


The Lightning Thief [Book One]

by zeke_mc_fleek



Series: The Rise and Fall [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: (slight canon divergence), Bisexual Female Character, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Complete, Enemies to Friends, F/F, Lesbian Character, Light Angst, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-05-03 20:31:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 23,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14577051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeke_mc_fleek/pseuds/zeke_mc_fleek
Summary: I literally made this while I was a sophomore in high school and now I'm done with my first year of college! I'm moving all my works from the various sites I'm apart of to this website, so that everything will be in one place for now on.----You shall go west to face the god who has turned,You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned,You shall be betrayed by the one you call friend,You shall be abandoned by one who you grow close to,And fail to save what matters most in the end.With the arrival of Percy Jackson to Camp Half-Blood, what could this possibly mean for the unclaimed Demigod, Reagan Romero?This is a lesbian story with a female OC and Annabeth Chase because why not? There will obviously be non-canon things happening and I hope you enjoy!





	1. Perseus Jackson

She watched Luke, eyes wide in awe and admiration. She was only thirteen years old, hair black and curly, pulled back into a loose ponytail. The Hermes Cabin was in the arena, sparring with the average Celestial Bronze swords. Luke was nineteen, tall, and cute. Even Reagan who was too young for him thought he was cute. But she never saw Luke that way. She had a hard time not comparing Luke with the newest arrival, Percy Jackson. Despite the obvious age difference, Percy being a year under her, he was almost as good as Luke. Almost. Luke had fathoms of experience over everyone. But Percy was getting there. Percy was disarmed after a moment, and then Luke said they'd take a quick break.

Than Percy and Luke were back at each other. But this time Percy seemed more energetic. Their clashes were fierce, one trying to overcome the other. After long minutes of going back and forth, the children of the Hermes Cabin collectively gasped as Luke's sword clattered to the ground. Instead of being angry, Luke smiled broadly over at Percy. Why shouldn't he be angry? Luke was the best swordsman in the entire camp, bested by a puny twelve year old. Reagan remembered feeling a tinge of jealousy as Luke dismissed the Hermes Cabin from sparring practice, the young girl storming off angrily.

There were two hours of free time before dinner, the sun beating down on Reagan's back as she trained. The thought of Luke smiling at Percy like that made her blood boil, and her swings were ungraceful and angry, imagining that the blade was slicing through Perseus Jackson's face. Beads of sweat rolled down her face as she rolled, ducked, and jabbed at invisible monsters and Percy's, her hands becoming clammy and making it hard to grip the hilt of her sword. The sword was a bit large compared to Reagan, but she had trained with it enough to be adequate enough at sword fighting with it. She wore an orange camp shirt with the letters, "CHB," in bold print on the front with a pair of jean shorts that stopped at her knees. She swung the sword in a large arc, only to stop suddenly at the scream she heard near the forest. Reagan almost dropped the weapon before remembering that she might need it and took her sword with her.

Near the edge of the forest was a small girl around the age of nine, her body a heap on the ground as she cowered from a hellhound, foam dripping from it's maw. The tiny girl was shaking with fear. Reagan looked lost, torn from wanting to help but also wanting to wait until help arrived. After a split second, she made her decision.

The hellhound crouched, and she could tell by how the muscles tensed in its hind legs, ready to pounce and kill the half blood. A growl rippled through its throat, and lunged for the powerless girl. Reagan made an odd sound as she charged forward, the celestial bronze sword impaling the chest of the hellhound in midair as she jabbed at it like she has practiced so many times. Her eyes were squeezed shut, forcing the blade through the chest of the monster. The hellhound disintegrated, the remaining particles disappearing with the wind. Suddenly the sword was too heavy for Reagan, but instead of feeling scared she felt exhilarated, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she fell to her knees and dropped the weapon. The girl sniffled and uncurled from the protective ball she was in, tears streaking down her face as she sat there, mouth slightly agape as she stared at the older girl that had just saved her life. Another wail ripped through her lips, and this time she cried joyous tears and reached out, hugging onto Reagan for dear life. She was only nine, and had never even held a weapon before. Let alone experience troubles with monsters.

By than campers from nearby came running over, followed by Chiron in full horse mode, his hooves kicking up dirt as he trotted over to see what the commotion was. Reagan was on her knees still, weakly and awkwardly patting the nine year old on the back, a dazed look in her eyes and face.

"What happened here?" Chiron demanded.

Reagan's eyes snapped open. "I- There was a-"

"A m-monster attacked me," the girl spoke up finally, voice muffled from Reagan's shoulder and pulled back to look at the centaur with a tearful look in her eyes. "Sh-She came here and killed it to save me."

Chiron looked at Reagan. "Is this true?"

The thirteen year old girl nodded her head hastily, eyes wide. There were several campers there too. One being a Percy Jackson. Reagan couldn't help but to see red when her eyes landed on him at the thought of Luke appraising him earlier. But behind Chiron stood a girl with blonde hair and tanned skin, and Reagan instantly knew it was Annabeth Chase of the Athena cabin. The unclaimed Demigod stared at Annabeth, and their eyes met in a stare off.

"Go to The Big House for check up," Chiron said, this time his voice more gentle.

Reagan's eyes focused back on the large centaur in front of her. "I'm okay, Chiron. Really. I didn't get hurt at all."

His gaze was soft. "Just to make sure."

Knowing that his word was final, Reagan pushed herself up. Picking up the sword, she felt a surge of fresh energy at the thought of killing the hellhound and gripped the hilt of the sword and walked in the direction of The Big House.

"Will I still be able to take part in capture the flag tomorrow night?" Reagan asked eagerly as she sat on the front porch of The Big House, Chiron in his wheelchair once again and the Demigod in a rocking chair.

He sighed in exasperation and nodded, a small smile on his face. "You may, dear." Reagan smiled brightly and moved to get up, but Chiron stopped her with a hand raised. "Now tell me," he began, "are you sure you don't know what attacked you?"

Reagan's eyes grew frantic for a moment before relaxing and shaking her head. "No. I told you before, I wasn't really paying attention to whatever was attacking. All I saw was the girl getting attacked and I moved without thinking."

He nodded, a somewhat troubled expression on his face, but Reagan assumed she was seeing things because he soon smiled. "Right. Now go. Enjoy your day. I'm sure your cabin mates are excited to hear your heroic story."


	2. Capture The Flag Goes Wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes. I never realized how little I was writing for each chapter, but I didn't want to go overboard and have a really long chapter and bore the reader. >.>

Reagan was pumped for capture the flag today, and she was certain that nothing could ruin her attitude. Everyone was pretty excited for capture the flag later in the day. After breakfast, the unclaimed Demigod went to the climbing wall, making sure the setting was set to challenging. Reagan's head tilted backwards to stare up at the towering climbing wall, slowly licking her lips before beginning to climb. It was hard at first, but she quickly adjusted and started scaling the wall with ease. She was five feet above the ground when a female voice behind her called out.

"What did you kill?"

Reagan blinked in confusion and looked down, staring at the blonde named Annabeth Chase. "What do you mean?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, arms crossed over her chest indignantly. "I mean, what monster did you kill when you saved that girl?"

The question caught Reagan by surprise so much that her palms began to sweat and she lost her grip, falling five feet down with a dull thud when her back hit the ground. She let out a groan and rolled onto her side. "It.... It was a small scorpion," she muttered, groaning as she slowly stood up and massaging her back.

"Really now?" the child of Athena asked, distrust dripping from her voice.

Reagan glared at her. "Yeah. Now beat it."

The blonde scowled. "You know, you can't always bludgeon your way through life."

"Well I can sure try."

Annabeth Chase tapped her foot against the ground irritably before deciding that this back and forth dispute wasn't worth her time and turned, stomping in the direction of The Big House. Reagan watched her until her back disappeared, the unclaimed Demigod shaking her head and turning to continue climbing the rock wall, only to realize that she had run out of time, lava pouring down from the top.

<:::>

Everyone was excited for capture the flag. Reagan dressed into Greek armor with no helmet, as her head was still too small for the helmets. Even the armor was a bit too large for her thin frame, but the armor was a safety requirement. She watched Percy Jackson struggle with tightening the straps of his armor, and quickly looked away when she felt a tug on her armor. Looking at the person, Reagan saw that it was the same girl that she had saved from the hell hound. The girl was short, dressed in a cute flowery dress, a matching flower crown in her black hair.

"So you aren't taking part in capture the flag?" Reagan asked, watching as the small girl helped the unclaimed Demigod tighten straps and straighten the Greek armor.

The girl smiled and shook her head. "No. Children of Aphrodite rarely take part in capture the flag," she explained, and by the tone of her voice Reagan could tell she's been at Camp Half-Blood for a few years now.

"Your....Your mom is Aphrodite?" Reagan asked incredulously.

The girl smiled. "Hmmhm." There was a pause, her scrutinizing gaze on Reagan before she remembered something. "Oh!" she chimed, reaching up. "Take this for good luck," she said happily, taking the flower crown off her head and going on her tippy toes to place the flower crown on Reagan's head, the taller girl bending down slightly to make it easier.

Reagan was surprised by this act of kindness, but didn't object to it. "What's your name? I'm Reagan."

The girl smiled brightly. "Rosalinda. But everyone calls me Rose."

A horn blared, and Rosalinda smiled before turning and skipping away, quickly falling into step with her siblings as they all made their way out of the forest clearing. Chiron galloped over to them, and on his back was a medics bag in case there were any accidents. He went through the rules, which everyone knew except for new arrivals, but was fairly easy to remember. Each teams were given their flags, and offered five minutes for each team to get their strategies planned and flags successfully hidden.

"I think we need at least three people to guard the flag," Reagan said as she kept in pace with Charles Beckendorf of the Hephaestus cabin.

"Right," he responded with a grin.

"We need a diversion," Annabeth piped up, appearing at Reagan's other side. The three glanced behind them, Percy Jackson not far behind. He was wearing a helmet, a blue feather sticking out the top, but the helmet seemed too large for him. The three looked at each other again knowingly.

"How about him for bait?"

Everyone had been assigned jobs and their flag had been successfully placed, and before they knew it a horn sounded off, echoing around the forest and signaling that the game had begun. Three had been assigned to watch over the flag, Percy was sent to some abandoned area along the creek, where hopefully Clarisse and her goons would target him personally. Luke led a small team in another direction, and Reagan was alone, scouting the forest for stragglers that wanted their flag. The forest seemed more eerie than usual, shadows danced across the corner of her vision, and then a rustling sound off to her side caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. What if it was another hell-hound? They couldn't even get passed the borders, and they were too dangerous to let roam around in the forest. There was another rustling sound to her side. The first time was just good luck, but there was no way she could kill another hell-hound. When the rustling sound got closer, Reagan spun around, sword raised.

"Woah there," Annabeth said, eyes crossing slightly as they focused on the sword point at her face.

Reagan blinked then sighed, lowering her weapon. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Luke's team?"

Annabeth blushed at the mention of Luke, glancing up at the flower crown adorning Reagan's head. "Where'd you get that from?"

"A girl made it for me for good luck," Reagan said defensively.

Annabeth nodded, pulling her baseball cap out of her back pocket again. "Yeah? Well you'll need it."

Before Reagan could demand what the blonde meant by that, Annabeth disappeared as she slipped the hat on. After a few minutes, Reagan assumed she was alone and kept walking than, sword raised slightly. There was more rustling, but this time Reagan assumed it was Annabeth somewhere, so she just ignored it and kept walking. Than a group of campers burst through the trees, laughing as they jumped Reagan. Her eyes widened, but before she could react properly, a metal net was flung, successfully capturing her. The net was surprisingly heavy, and Reagan had raised her sword to cut it, but when the net had caught her she fell to the ground, writhing in attempt to get out from under the net. The boys laughed, swords sheathed as they loomed over Reagan, making faces before racing off in the direction of her teams flag. She continued to twist and turn, sword forgotten at her side as she grabbed at the metal woven net angrily. But the attempts soon proved futile, and Reagan groaned in frustration.

There was more movement, and Reagan scowled, the thirteen year old crossing her arms over her chest. "Annabeth, I swear if you tell anyone-"

But it wasn't Annabeth. Another hell-hound, much larger than what she had slayed earlier, came lumbering out of a patch of bushes. It was frothing at the mouth, and it's blood red eyes focused on the trapped Demigod. The sight caused Reagan to freeze, eyes as wide as saucers as her blood turned to ice. It stalked towards her slowly until saliva from its mouth dripped down onto her legs, and Reagan began to shake uncontrollably, eyes squeezing shut as she prayed to the gods that she'd survive this somehow. But when had the gods ever been there for her? Certainly her godly parent had never even had it in them to even claim her, let alone support her in any way. The hell-hound sniffed at Reagan, its breath hot against her skin before deciding that she wasn't worth the effort and turned, slowly moving in the direction of the creek, like there was some other, more tastier Demigod to kill. On some occasions, Reagan felt a bit offended that she wasn't considered as tasty as other Demigods. Minutes passed in utter silence, like all animals in the forest just disappeared. Someone appeared from behind a tree, and Reagan was relieved that it was Charles Beckendorf.

His eyes widened noticeably. "Oh gods! Are you okay, Reagan?" he asked, large hands fumbling to pull the metal sewn net off of her.

She nodded. "How's the flag?"

Charles grinned, pulling the net off at last and tossing it aside. "Taken care of. We won!"

Reagan smiled brightly at that, and he grasped her hand and hefted her up. The two ran, but she didn't exactly realize that they were heading in the same direction as the hell-hound had went. Eventually the couple had reached the creek, following after it. She remembered that they had placed Percy in this area as bait for Clarisse and her henchmen. Eventually they reached the clearing where the campers had congregated at, and in the center was Percy Jackson. What looked like a broken spear was on the ground, pieces scattered in the moving water. But what made them both stop in their tracks was that hell-hound Reagan had encountered minutes ago, the monster lunging at Percy. The creek gurgled like it was coming to life, and Percy Jackson covered his head with his hands like that would to anything, but it did. The tiny creek seemed to come alive, a monster wave appearing and splashing over the attacking hell-hound with so much force that when the monster hit the ground with all the force of the creek coming down on it and making it turn to golden dust that the creek washed away. There were gasps and whispering among the campers as Chiron came over. There was a light green glow over the boys head, and Reagan felt her jaw clenching so tightly that the blood vessels would surely pop. Above Percy Jackson's head was a green trident that rotated before it disappeared, and the chatter amongst the campers only got worse and louder.

Percy Jackson was the son of Poseidon.

"No freaking way," Reagan muttered.


	3. Flying Old Ladies.

      Percy was the talk of the camp now that he was claimed. He was moved out of the Hermes cabin to the Poseidon cabin, and Reagan was happy for that. She was also happy that people avoided Percy like he was the plague. Even Luke, for all of his appraisal the other day, watched Percy with a little more hesitance then before. The Hermes cabin was at archery practice, but Reagan didn't have much interest in archery, even though she was talented at it. So instead, when she was given a bow and quill filled with arrows, she notched an arrow and took aim at Malcolm, a child of Athena and Annabeth's second in command. However, before she could let loose the arrow, a voice called out to her. 

"Reagan!"

She jumped, and the arrow went flying up in the sky. When she looked at who had called her, she was surprised when it was Luke. "Y-Yeah?"

He smiled. "Something went down at the Big House and Chiron wants to see you."

        Panic tightened her throat, making it hard to speak. She only nodded and shoved the bow and arrows at Luke, than made her way to the Big House. On the porch that circled the Big House stood Percy, Annabeth, and Grover, with Chiron in his wheelchair. Percy looked shaken up, like he had seen a ghost. Grover looked nervous, eyeing the can of Diet Coke on Mr. D's table hungrily. This all caused Reagan to grow more nervous and scared. What if Chiron found out that she had really killed a hell-hound? Or that Annabeth told him what Reagan had told her about killing some stupid scorpion. Chiron smiled reassuringly as the thirteen year old climbed up the steps onto the porch where they all waited. 

"Reagan, I'm glad you decided to show up," Chiron said, wheeling back and forth slightly and absently. "Percy here was just given a prophecy by the Oracle. And survived to tell the tale," he said, eyes bright and full of pride as he looked at Percy then back to Reagan. "We- I think that it would be best that you went on a quest."

Reagan's face lit up. "Really?! Where and what-" There was a pause, and slowly her gaze drifted to Percy and his companions. "You don't mean...."

"With Percy, Annabeth, and Grover," Chiron finished.

She shook her head vigorously. "No."

Annabeth moved forward, mouth opening to start some argument. But Chiron placed a hand in front of the young girl and shook his head. "Fine, I understand. But you will miss an important opportunity, Reagan."

        Chiron seemed to know more than any of them standing there, but didn't say anything. Reagan stared at him before nodding and turning away, storming off in the direction of the Hermes cabin. 

<:::>

 

        Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were all walking down Half-Blood Hill, towards a white van that was used to transport strawberries across Manhattan. Argus was waiting silently in the drivers side, one of his many thousand eyes blinking every so often. The three piled into the van, but before Argus could drive off, shouting from the top of the hill caught his attention. Reagan had hastily packed a bag and slung it over her shoulder. She said her quick good bye's to her friends in the Hermes cabin, and had quickly dashed towards the hill. Chiron was waiting at the top knowingly, the tail swishing back and forth anxiously, wondering if Reagan would really come. Relief had broke out over his face as the young Demigod could be seen running towards the hill from the cabins. Reagan was out of breath but didn't stop.

        The front door of the van swung open thanks to Argus, and Reagan smiled at him gratefully. Once the door was closed and she had her seat-belt on,  they were off. The ride was silent, and the whole time Reagan just stared out the window, watching the scenery morph and change as they picked up speed. What was her importance to the quest? Which reminded her that she didn't even know what the prophecy was or what they were doing in the first place. Eventually they were dropped off at a bus station, and the four were left standing there on the side of the road. Reagan grasped the handle of the backpack in one hand as she stood there awkwardly, toe brushing against the ground. 

"What are we even doing?" Reagan asked after a moment. 

Annabeth sighed irritably and rolled her eyes. "We're on a quest to find Zeus' master lightning bolt," she said quietly so that the nearby mortals also waiting for a bus couldn't overhear them. "Percy is being blamed for stealing it."

Reagan looked at the powerful Demigod with distaste. "Maybe he did steal it. I mean, it's suspicious that he was claimed the day before given this quest. I don't know, call me paranoid or whatever."

Grover rolled his eyes, hugging his bag to his chest. "You're paranoid," he muttered.

"I didn't steal it!" Percy snapped, wincing when a nearby couple glanced over their shoulders to look at the kids.

"Look," Annabeth began, putting her hands up and sighing. "It doesn't matter. For some reason Chiron wanted you on this quest with us."

        The bus slowly pulled up to the stop, and everyone piled on. Percy and Annabeth sat next to each other on the bus with Grover and Reagan sitting next to each other behind them. 

"So....tell me about the prophecy," Reagan whispered to Grover. 

        Grover looked nervous again and sighed as he recited the prophecy without pause. Reagan looked troubled, but she wasn't sure why. Before the conversation could continue, the bus came to a screeching stop. Seconds later came three old ladies, slowly making their way inside and walking down the aisle. Reagan didn't think much of them, but Percy stiffened noticeably. 

"That's Ms. Dodds," he hissed out. 

        Annabeth gasped softly. "Three Furies?" she whispered in disbelief. Grover shook beside Reagan, gripping his bag for dear life. The three Demigods and the Satyr all tried to act normal by then. For Reagan that was easy, she simply stared out the window with a bored expression on her face. She didn't take her large Celestial bronze sword with her because she wouldn't be sure what mortals would see through the Mist, but there was what looked like an old fashioned cellphone case attached to her hip. Demigods couldn't use cellphones because those were like sending up flares for monsters to come and eat them. Once Reagan would open up the tiny case and reach in, she'd pull out a dagger instead. Then, once Reagan would put the dagger back in the tiny cellphone case, it would morph and look like its shrinking. It was perfect for when she wasn't at Camp Half-Blood. 

        The three old ladies were walking down the aisle in search of free seats, but Percy and Annabeth were muttering to each other, heads bent together slightly. Soon enough, Annabeth's cap of invisibility was passed to Percy and he put it on, immediately turning invisible. The three Furies reached them, eyes sweeping over the three kids before moving on and taking a seat together all in the same row. Reagan shuddered and stared forward, wondering if Percy was still sitting there or had moved on. The bus started back up again and they were off. Minutes passed, and neither the kids nor the old ladies had moved or even given an inkling that they were aware of each other or cared about each other. Reagan was growing anxious at this point and glanced over her shoulder. When her gaze met the gaze of one of the Furies, fear coursed through her system when the old lady's eye was a glittering, obsidian black. Grover grabbed her wrist tightly, and Reagan forced herself to look forward. The normally tanned thirteen year old had turned a sickly pale, beads of sweat forming along her hairline, and she was visibly shaking. Reagan didn't want to admit that she was scared, but she had never fought against any Furies before, let alone see one. The hell-hound was probably the worst monster she had ever killed because usually the monsters in the forest were really easy to kill and weren't threatening at all. 

        The next moment the bus veered to its right, and Reagan groaned as the side of her head hit the glass window. The bus veered to its left, and she grasped Grover's arm to keep him from falling off the seat. The bus driver was beginning to panic as he hastily tried to gain control over the bus, hands trying to take hold of the out of control steering wheel. Everyone on the bus was screaming, frantically holding onto anything they could. Eventually the bus driver pulled the emergency brake, and everyone was pitched forward. 

"Okay everyone! Off the bus," the bus driver said, forcing the doors open and getting out. 

        Everyone began to file out of the bus, save for the four kids and three old ladies. Percy took off the cap, shimmering into sight and stuffed the cap into his pocket. The three old ladies were no longer old ladies. The purse they each held had transformed into a whip with crackling fire, their skin growing grotesque and leathery with razor-sharp fangs. Bony wings grew out of their backs, lifting them off the ground and making the bus seem even smaller. Reagan and Annabeth stood up in the aisle, guarding the way to Percy. Grover stood up and pulled out his reed pipes, already starting to play some show tune. One of the Furies cackled, crawling over the seats with her talons tearing holes in the cushions as she went. Grover's show tune caused grape vines to sprout and start wrapping around one of the Furies' legs, until soon enough the entire Furie was engulfed in thick green vines, which left two of the Furies left. 

"Give it back!" the one Furie climbing over the seats hissed, baring her fangs. 

Percy kept Riptide up to create some barrier between him and the Furie. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

        Reagan had pulled out her dagger, crouching down and ready for a fight along with Annabeth. The two girls looked at each other before nodding, a silent understanding between them. They both lunged. Reagan went to stab at the nearest Furie whilst Annabeth jumped on the back of the Furie nearest to Percy, wrestling it and keeping the monster distracted from Percy. When Reagan had stabbed at the Furie, it simply blocked her attack with its sharp talons. 

"Get out of here, Percy!" Annabeth shouted, still clutching the Furie as she rode on its back with her arms wrapped tightly around its neck. 

"I won't leave you guys!"

Reagan rolled her eyes, yelping at the sound of a cracking whip, but it was hard to dodge in the confined space. "Don't be a hero. They're after you!" The Furie lunged at Reagan, and she took several steps back. 

        Percy was hesitant to leave, but tried making a beeline across the aisle from the drivers seat to the door, but the nearby Furie cracked her whip, and the fiery leather stretched across his path. It sliced into the console, sparks flying up along with wisps of flames. Glass shattered, and all the chaos inside with the destruction of the button console and the windshield breaking as the whip slashed through it, the engine began to smoke. Percy covered his face then jumped out of the bus at the first opportunity that he got. Grover edged out of the seat he stood near, reed pipes on a string around his neck so that he'd never lose it. Reagan guarded his back as he ran forward, his hooves making him run with a slight limp. Annabeth ushered him outside and turned, watching Reagan hold back the one Furie, the unclaimed Demigod slowly inching backwards. There was shouting outside, something about the bus blowing up. 

"Hurry up, Reagan!" Annabeth shouted, a somewhat worried expression on her face. 

        Reagan nodded and turned, running down the aisle. She and Annabeth ran out of the bus, but before they could leave, Reagan panicked when she couldn't find her backpack and turned right back around and into the burning bus. There was something precious she had brought, and wouldn't be able to bear with herself if she parted with it. Reagan ran out of the bus just as it exploded, the blast knocking her off of her feet and to her knees. Annabeth and Percy pulled her up quickly, and while everyone freaked out about three old ladies that had still been on the bus when it had exploded, the four kids ran off into the forest.


	4. The Traveling Circus.

 The kids kept running until the sounds of screaming and shouting was gone and they were certain that no one was after them, especially the Furies. They finally stopped near a murky river, bent up empty cans of pop and dusty bottles of alcohol littered the ground, like this was a prime location for teenagers to party at. They set up camp with a measly fire, huddling around it for warmth. No one spoke at all, until Grover finally said something. 

"You could have at least have grabbed our bags."

Reagan scoffed, her chin resting on her knees. "I'm sorry," she said sarcastically. "I didn't think I was here to babysit your belongings," she spat. "I would be dead and your things would be gone anyways."

Grover pushed himself to stand up, brushing the dirt off his jeans. "The whole quest might be better if you weren't here," he muttered more to himself, but Reagan heard him. 

"Listen, goat boy-" she began, but Annabeth grabbed Reagan's arm tightly to stop her from getting up and fighting the Satyr. 

"We all need some sleep. Tomorrow will be a better day."

        To Reagan's utter surprise, Grover sniffled as wings appeared on the red converse he wore over his hooves, lifting him into the air and carried him up to a branch of a tree. She snorted and stood up too, grabbing her backpack and walking to the other side of the camp and sitting back down against the tree. 

"I'll do first watch," she said dryly. 

        With that everyone went their separate ways, spreading out to sleep on the cold, hard dirt. Reagan just sat there, staring forward with a blank look on her face. You could almost believe that she was sleeping with her eyes wide open, but every once and a while she'd shift or blink then go still again. Footsteps caught her attention, and Annabeth was seen out of the corner of her eyes coming over. 

"So...what's in the bag?" Annabeth asked curiously, plopping down and sitting cross legged across from Reagan. 

The unclaimed Demigod simply shrugged. "Some clothes and a deodorant," she answered, to which Annabeth rolled her eyes. 

"You would risk your life for that junk? You know you can always-"

        Reagan heaved a sigh and opened the backpack, rifling through her belongings until she pulled out a wallet with a kitten print all over it. 

Annabeth held back a laugh. "Is that yours?"

"No. It belongs to my mom. She gave it to me when I got out of the hospital and I needed to leave for camp. It's just sentimental," the thirteen year old explained, examining it carefully and absently before stuffing it into her bag again and closing it. "She's the only family I got."

Annabeth had almost forgotten that Reagan hasn't been claimed yet. Though her brilliant mind had remained all the way back to the part about the hospital. "What happened to put you in a hospital?"

Reagan just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly and tilted her head back so that her head was leaning against the tree. "Get some sleep, Wise Girl."

        Annabeth blushed with embarrassment but nodded. She got up and walked back to the fire, spreading out on the ground and closing her eyes. Grover was snoring up on his branch and Percy had laid down as well, and the night was filled with the sounds of crickets and animals moving about. 

<:::>

 

        Reagan was woken up early the next morning by Percy. Annabeth and Grover were scuffing out the remains of the fire to make it seem like no one was there at all. Percy had money in his bag, which unfortunately had still been on the bus when it had exploded. Now they had nothing. As they walked in complete silently through the forest. Grover looked up, sniffing at the air curiously before perking up. 

"Do you smell that?" he asked. 

        Reagan tilted her head back slightly, but that wasn't really necessary. A strong aroma was in the air. It smelled like....

"Food!" Percy exclaimed excitedly. 

        They kept walking forward more quickly now. Soon enough, the four reached an empty road, and across the street was a diner. The neon sign was impossible to read for the Demigods, but Grover got excited too. 

"It's open!"

        The Satyr sprinted across the street as quickly as his hooves could carry him, and the three couldn't help but to follow after him. They were all just as hungry as he was, enough to go into some strangers diner on the side of the road. It wasn't just a diner though. In large letters on the top, it said, "Aunty Em's Gnome Emporium." There were stone statues in a garden, dozens of horrendous looking statuettes of people, gnomes, and things that were two or more animals. 

Grover whimpered. "One of those statues look like my Uncle Ferdinand."

        They had all stopped to look at the stone statues, some looking so grotesque that Reagan had turned her head away. When she did, her gaze dropped to the door of the diner part, where a woman stood. Her head was veiled in black, making it hard for Reagan to see who the person was, and she had an accent when she spoke.

"Welcome, children!" the woman cooed warmly.

The rest went to look at her, and Annabeth glanced up at the sign again before she looked at the lady. "Uh... Are you Aunty Em?"

They couldn't see, but it sounded like she had smiled under that veil. "I am. What are four lonely children doing on the side of a highway?"

        Panic ensued. Percy grew flustered but quickly made up the dumbest, most ridiculous story ever.

"We came from this....traveling circus, yeah, and one of our buses broke down," Percy blubbered through the lie.

'If she believes this lie, she's dumber than she looks,' Reagan thought incredulously as she waited for Aunty Em to either call the police or kick them all off her property.

The woman opened her door invitingly. "Oh, you poor dears!" she exclaimed. "You must be starving. Come in, come in!"

        They were ushered inside, all five of them cramming into one booth. Grover nervously jumped into the booth, sitting inside along with Annabeth and Percy, forcing Reagan to sit beside Aunty Em on the other side. The entire time the conversation went on, Reagan sat there in silence just staring down at the table, hands politely folded on her lap. As far as she knew, which was practically nothing when it came to this woman, was that she was somewhere from the Middle East.

"Reagan?" the woman asked worriedly even though her name was never mentioned at all, "you haven't spoken or eaten anything at all. Are you okay?" Aunty Em placed a gentle, slithering, hissing hand on Reagan's shoulder.

        Wait, slithering and hissing? Reagan flinched away from her touch slightly, daring to look over at Aunty Em. She was almost certain that if she stared long enough she saw unnatural movement underneath the woman's veil. Reagan looked forward immediately, slowly starting to eat the hamburger and fries that were set down in front of her. She had a hunch on who this was, and goosebumps erupted across her arms at the dawning realization. Despite what her mind was on, Reagan ate the food gratefully, more hungry than she had even known when they had gotten there. She finished eating fairly quickly and sat back stiffly.

"No, Ma'am. I was only admiring the rusticity of your diner," Reagan said calmly and smiled genuinely. Her eyes flickered to Annabeth, a silent warning, before returning her attention to Aunty Em at her side. "But I'm afraid we'll be missed at the...." She sighed. "....traveling circus. We need to get going."

Reagan began to get up, but Percy was quick to argue. "Wait! Why can't we stay?" She almost felt bad because of how genuinely hurt his voice sounded.

"No, Percy. Reagan's right. We really need to leave." Annabeth said, already starting to push Grover off the booth as well and tugging a confused Percy with her.

Aunty Em seemed hurt by the sound of her voice. "Before you go, I have one request of you."

Percy eagerly responded. "What is it?"

"I only ask that I take a picture of you all before I go?"

They all stared at her like she was crazy, and Annabeth quickly rejected the idea. "I'm sorry, but we really need to-"

"Of course you can," Percy cut in smoothly, narrowing his eyes at Annabeth before looking at Aunty Em kindly.

        They were all settled in the garden, horrific statues everywhere. Grover whispered something about the statue that looked like his uncle again as Aunty Em told them all where and how to sit. The strange part was that there was no camera set up. Reagan sat between Percy and Annabeth with Grover on Annabeth's other side.

"You all look just so cute like this," the woman said with a smile.

She reached up, clutching the end of her veil with one hand, and at that same moment Grover's panicked voice said: "Hey, that is my Uncle Ferdinand!"

"Duck!" Annabeth shouted, and with all her force mustered up into one push, she shoved both Percy and Reagan off of one side with her as Grover dove off the other side.

        When Percy hit the ground, it jarred him from his trance and he rolled to the side, uncapping Riptide. Reagan wasn't so lucky. When she hit the ground right after Percy, Annabeth landed on top of her with a groan. The unclaimed Demigod groaned too, an angry blush covering her face. Soon enough they untangled from each other and went separate ways. Reagan hid behind the nearest statue as Aunty Em cackled, and the statue she was hiding behind broke, the stone shattering into shards as she ducked. Reagan began to move again, to find another hiding spot further away, but a sword slashed down into the dirt in front of her.

"Look at me, Reagan," Medusa coaxed calmly.

Reagan stiffened up completely, and her eyes were squeezed shut tightly, blush forgotten. But of its own accord, her head tilted to the side in the direction of Medusa's voice. "You can do it," she hummed out soothingly.

"Reagan!"

        When her eyes opened, she witnessed Medusa falling towards her with Grover flying over her with his flying converse and a large stick in hand, and he laughed happily. She kicked off, rolling away from the monster and towards Annabeth, the two hiding behind a statue. While Medusa was busy, the two whispered to each other about ideas, then the blonde hit Reagan's shoulder suddenly.

"Over there!" she hissed.

Across the garden was a statue, and in the enclosed hands was a glass orb. "Percy!" Reagan called out since he was the closest. "The orb!"

        It had gotten his attention, but Medusa was no longer occupied. Grover went out of control, flying right into his Uncle Ferdinand's stony embrace, leaving him dazed. Medusa howled in anger and swung her large sword which crashed into the statue with the orb on it that Percy had ran over towards. The orb went rolling, forcing Percy to do something risky. He dove into the open, successfully taking hold of the orb and holding it up to Medusa with his eyes squeezed shut. Percy had his eyes shut, and had to uncap Riptide again with his teeth pulling the cap off. It didn't petrify Medusa, but she was stunned. Percy swung his sword, and Medusa was no more.

 

<:::>

 

        Medusa's severed head was in a brown plastic bag on the booth table, they had gathered all the money from the cash register and had even scored a few golden drachmas. They sat there, staring at the brown bag filled with live, slithering snakes. Percy had disappeared, returning from the storage room with a large brown box. He stuffed the head in there and slapped a return address on, "Mount Olympus," with a golden drachma. Soon enough it disappeared, and Annabeth shifted nervously from her seat in the booth.

"Percy, that's not a good thing to do. Getting on the gods' bad sides will only make the quest more difficult."

The son of Poseidon didn't seem to care. "Good. I'm tired of being a pawn to the gods."


	5. Rat Dogs and Their Mothers.

        The four had left "Aunty Em's Gnome Emporium," heading to the nearest city. They had to avoid main roads because a newspaper that was at the diner had Percy as the headlines, so they were certain he was a wanted fugitive, and they were his accomplices. Eventually they reached the city, and with the money they had bought four tickets to ride the monorail. The ride was silent for the most part, with Reagan staring out the window. Annabeth and Grover sat cross from her and Percy. They were all fairly relaxed at the moment despite the quest and everything that had happened in two days, even the tension amongst themselves had dissipated. Reagan clicked her tongue.

"Grover I'm....I'm sorry for snapping at you the day before," Reagan apologized, fingers twisting into a knot as she stared out the window still.

He shook his head, offering a small smile. "Don't be. We've all been under a lot of stress already. I'm actually glad you're here with us."

        She smiled, because that meant more to her than she let on. Her shoulders slouched and she stared back out the window, lost in her own thoughts. Then Annabeth said her name to get her attention, and Reagan looked back over at the blonde this time who sat across from her.

"You said you were in the hospital before. What happened?" Annabeth asked, genuinely curious.

Reagan shrugged. "Got hurt. Isn't that what you're supposed to do when you get badly injured?"

        Annabeth rolled her eyes, and they were all back to normal. Before she could say something witty and intelligent back, the monorail screeched to a slow stop, and they had reached their halfway mark, the monorail coming to a temporary stop in St. Louis. The voice on the intercom stated their destination, saying they had a two hour stop before returning to their trip to Colorado.

Annabeth looked excited all of the sudden. "Oh, can we see the Gateway Arch?"

        Reagan gave Percy and Grover a look, but with Annabeth pleading so much, they all eventually caved and made their way to the monument. Annabeth couldn't calm down. She rambled on about everything there was to ramble about when it came to the Gateway Arch. Percy didn't have a clue about any of it, and immediately attached himself to Grover's side since neither of them really understood what the blonde talked about. Leaving Reagan to listen in silence, the two walking side-by-side. Their shoulders touched every once and a while, the small group weaving through the crowds of people before eventually reaching the monument. Annabeth stepped over towards the plaque, actually happily reading all the information it had. Reagan found it all a bit endearing, cute even. They all entered the elevator to take it to the top, and it was a tight squeeze because a rather obese woman with her annoying, yapping Chihuahua was taking up most the space. The whole ride up Annabeth's mouth ran, talking about facts, and how she'd make the elevator floor glass too so that they could look straight down and see how high they were from a different angle. Reagan and Annabeth were crushed closely together, but to be honest, they were all pretty smashed together. Grover's hoof had stepped on her one foot three times already. But all Reagan could focus on was the close proximity the older, unclaimed Demigod had to the shorter blonde girl.

        It was distracting, but in a weird good way. The stupid dog started barking again from somewhere behind them, and Reagan was pulled from her thoughts. She looked back at the large woman in the tight denim dress, and tried in the nicest voice possible to speak.

"Can you please control your dog." It sounded more rude than Reagan had intended it to be, and even her face had this blunt, unamused look on it.

"Reagan!" Annabeth whispered in disbelief. "Be a little more polite."

The woman didn't seem offended. "It's okay, hunny. I know my son can be a bit too excited at times."

Reagan's eyes widened, and she leaned her head closer to Annabeth to whisper. "Did she really just call that rat her son?!"

        Annabeth nudged her in the ribs with her elbow, sufficiently stopping the conversation completely. The elevator reached the top at last, and Reagan eagerly got off the lift and walked over to the nearest window to look out and enjoy the view. They only had around fifteen minutes to look around and enjoy the time up there. The time went by quickly, with Annabeth continuously talking about different types of ideas she had to improve the Gateway Arch. Soon enough, the guide was calling visitors back to the elevator to take it down so that the next group could take it up. Everyone had crowded back into the elevator, all except for Percy Jackson and the large woman with her annoying rat-dog. Reagan, Annabeth, and Grover looked at their friend with worried expressions. He smiled reassuringly.

"We can all wait together," Grover said.

Percy smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry, guys. I'll take the next one down."

        With that, the three rode the elevator all the way back down in stiff silence. While waiting for Percy, Reagan was leaning against a nearby wall, arms crossed and chin against her chest. She was so deep in thought that she almost didn't hear when Annabeth and Grover walked over after they finished with their walk.

"She called that dog her son," Reagan said after a moment once the two neared her enough to hear what she had said.

Grover shrugged. "Maybe she just really loves her dog?"

Reagan shook her head, brows furrowed together. "No something seemed off-"

        An explosion rang out from the top of the Gateway Arch. There was silence before panic started. Civilians ran, finding loved one's and people trying to leave. The three kids ran to the elevator, heads tilted backwards as they stared up at the large arch. Sirens filled the air as ambulances and police cars raced to the scene.

"We need to hide," Reagan said, grabbing Annabeth and Grover and pulling them off quickly.

"W-We can't just leave him!" Grover whimpered, pulling against her grasp to no avail.

Reagan rolled her eyes. "We aren't!" she argued. "But we're also wanted by the entire country too. We can't just stand here since we were seen with him at the top."

        Annabeth wanted to argue, but didn't. The three hurried off toward the river, stopping on the bank and turning to watch the carnage. People were injured from falling debris, getting carried off in stretchers so that they could be tended to. Was Percy up there when the explosion happened? Long minutes passed, and Reagan wanted to leave. News vans had began to show up, recording and asking questions to anyone willing to answer and be on television. There was a noise behind them, and when they turned to look, they saw Percy crawling out of the river and laying on the dirt. They ran over and hefted him up, and he seemed shaken up.

"Are you okay, Percy?" Grover asked.

Percy nodded. "Yeah."

        He looked passed them, and a police officer was showing around a wanted poster with Percy Jackson's face on it. He pulled them along back in the direction of the train station so that they could leave as soon as possible. When the train was moving again and they were all situated, Percy explained to them everything that had happened. 

"And they just got away?" Reagan asked with a frown. She was so enthralled by everything that was said that she had leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees, back hunched and shoulders squared together. 

Annabeth sat beside her this time, her own eyebrows knitted together worriedly. "That's not good. She could cause problems for us in the future..."

"You just jumped into the river?!" Grover asked with admiration. 

        Even Reagan looked at Percy with a new kind of respect. She would never be able to do that, even if her father was Poseidon. Percy went on with his story until it was dark, Grover was snoring, and the Demigods laughed softly before all going to bed themselves.


	6. Nightmare.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is just random fluff and a filler to make this first book seem longer! I realized that the Percy Jackson and the Olympian books are all pretty short, lol. I can probably finish this in a week or two with how fast I'm spitting out chapters. So enjoy some ReaAbeth bonding happening. uwu

        The ride to Colorado was going to take half the day, and they wouldn't reach Denver by the afternoon. That night was the first night they slept in relative peace since this quest had even started. Annabeth was sitting there, woken from her sleep by some invisible force. She had been laying down along the long cushioned chair that she and Reagan shared. Her head was on Reagan's lap, as Reagan had fallen to sleep with her head against the cold glass of the window. Annabeth noticed for the first time how calm the slightly older girl looked whenever she was sleeping. Not so angry or thoughtful all the time. There was a scar that stretched over her eyebrow, and a sliver of the eyebrow that had the scar over it didn't grow back at all. Dirt smudged her face from sleeping on the ground outside, and her clothes were a bit dirty. In fact, they all looked like wild forest children by now. The scar on her eyebrow twitched, face contorting into a pained expression. 

        Was she having a nightmare? Reagan's left arm twitched too, causing Annabeth to flinch and make some space between them on the seat. Reagan murmured something, but it was too gargled and messy to actually understand what was being said. After a few seconds of this, Annabeth decided to wake Reagan up in fear that she'd wake up Percy and Grover too. 

"Reagan," Annabeth whispered, reaching over and touching her arm gently. 

When Reagan's arm was touched, her eyes snapped open and she flinched away, one of her hands tightly grabbing Annabeth's wrist. "Don't!" Though she didn't realize that it was Annabeth, her eyes glazed over still. But Annabeth flinched away nonetheless. 

"Reagan. Reagan." This time Annabeth shook her, and it did the trick to wake her up. 

        Reagan blinked rapidly several times, staring at Annabeth in the dark, the moon outside giving them the only light. Her breathing was heavy, and she looked like she was on the verge of crying now. Slowly she relaxed, her body returning to its equilibrium. Her heart slowed down and she dropped the wrist she was holding, tilting back to relax against the seat. No one spoke at first, but Annabeth was the first to break the silence. 

"Are you okay?"

Reagan shook her head and chuckled. "Do I look okay?" she muttered dryly, wiping her eyes with the heels of her hands. She let out a shuddering breath as she sighed heavily, like some burden was making it hard to breathe. 

Now Annabeth knew what is was like to have nightmares. Demigods usually didn't have normal nightmares. They were more vivid and sometimes so life-like they seemed to be really happening. "You know you can talk to me, right?" She wanted her voice to come out steady and calm, but it was a soft whisper in the dark. 

The other girl attempted a smile. "These are my problems to deal with, but thanks."

Annabeth actually cared for Reagan's health, believe it or not. And right now she didn't look so good. "Reagan, tell me what's bothering you. It's always better to vent about your problems to someone."

Reagan paused and chuckled breathlessly, running her fingers through her messy hair to try and get rid of the knots. "It was a dream about home. About my step-dad. The usual," she answered and sighed again, turning her head away to stare out the window at the passing night. 

"What's he like?"

She shrugged. "Uhhhh. Abusive. Mean. Angry. Abusive," she listed. 

"You said abusive twice," Annabeth pointed out. 

Reagan nodded. "What can I say? He's an abusive man."

Annabeth frowned at that. "He...he..." She couldn't bring herself to even finish the thought. The thought of Reagan living in some home like that for so long seemed atrocious, to say the least.

"Yep. Last moment I spent with my mom was when I was in the hospital because of him," she finished for her. She sounded real casual about it all, and Annabeth wasn't sure how. "I've been fighting with him every chance I had," she added while nodding. "Now tit for tat, Annabeth Chase. Tell me about yourself."

        Annabeth wanted to press Reagan to tell her more, but settled with what she had learned and began taking about herself, talking about her dad and about her step-monster and her step-siblings. It was nice to talk about these things. Before she realized it, however, Reagan had fallen back asleep. Reagan was snoring softly, lips parted as her head tilted to the side and rested against Annabeth's shoulder at a somewhat odd angle since Reagan was taller. A blush spread across her face, and she slowly stopped talking and just sat there in the dark alone. Percy was dead asleep, drool dripping onto the front of his shirt. Grover muttered calmly in his sleep, curled into a tight ball. Annabeth smiled to herself and rested her cheek against Reagan's head as she drifted back to sleep.


	7. That's My Dad?!

      They arrived in Denver, Colorado by noon the next day. The very first thing they all did was find someplace to eat. The last time they had eaten was at "Aunty Em's Gnome Emporium." Which was going on to almost three days ago. The four walked into a small time diner and sat down at a booth. Reagan with Percy on one side with Grover and Annabeth on the other side. A waitress walked over, looking at the children suspiciously.

She raised her eyebrows. "You kids have money to pay?"

        The four tickets had cost them all the money they had, and only had a few drachmas to spare, but she obviously wouldn't take them. They all looked at each other uncomfortably, not wanting to have to do the walk of shame out of the diner. Then, there was a commotion outside. A Harley Davidson motor cycle had pulled up, the engine roaring loudly and causing people to stare in wonder. He kicked the kickstand down and got off, sauntering into the diner they were in. He had on a pair of wrap around shades that hid his eyes and a black, leather jacket with a red shirt on. His combat boots were large and studded at the toes and even his pants- Well, the man was clad in all black aside from the red shirt. He whistled and plopped down beside Annabeth and Grover, shoving them into the booth without saying a word. One of the weirdest things about him, however, was that he casually carried around a shotgun and no one seemed to say anything about it. The waitress seemed utterly shocked at this man's sudden arrival.

He blinked than looked at her like he was noticing her for the first time. "Oh yeah. They'll take the special." And with that he pulled out a small bundle filled with golden drachmas and dropped them on the table.

"Sir, you can't pay with that," the waitress said, which Reagan thought was pretty brave considering that the man looked intimidating.

He arched one eyebrow and set the shotgun down on the table, a silent warning. "You sure about that?"

        The waitress gulped, gathered the golden coins in her hands, and scurried into the kitchen to give their orders to the cook.

"You can't do that!" Annabeth argued. "You can't just push people around like that!"

The man, obviously a god, scoffed. "You'll be surprised at what I can do, kid."

His eyes landed on Percy Jackson as he sat backwards. "Jackson. You the son of Poseidon? You don't look like much," he observed.

"Just who are you?" Reagan spat out suddenly, scowling angrily as she crossed her arms over her chest.

        For once, the god looked at Reagan and sneered angrily, leaning forward so that his elbows were against the table and took the shades off, and she gasped softly at the sight of what seemed to be fireballs instead of eyeballs in his eye sockets. The tiny fires flared angrily for a moment.

"You should watch who you're talking to, brat," he warned, voice low and dangerous. He sat back like that didn't just happen. "You guys just so happen to be basking in the presence of the god of war himself, Ares," he said proudly. He suddenly squinted behind his dark shades, staring over at Reagan with a hard, unreadable expression. Like this oaf of a man actually had some intelligent thoughts. "You..." Ares began, pointing one large and calloused finger towards the Demigod. Then he snapped his fingers, and Reagan blinked in surprise as a faint red glowing light was above her head, and when she glanced up she saw what looked like a small red sword rotating above her head that quickly disappeared. "You're my daughter."

Reagan's eyes widened, and she felt small all of the sudden and she wanted nothing more but to shrivel up and disappear forever. "Me?" she squeaked out.

Ares nodded. "So the next thing I'm about to tell you is important. I need you kids to go to this waterpark and retrieve my shield," he explained, pulling out a dagger and using it to clean his nails.

Reagan was still shocked, just staring up at this man that was her actual dad. So Percy began to speak, but she quickly interrupted him. "We'll do it!"

"What?!" Annabeth asked, eyes wide as she stared at Reagan in shock, who was grinning like an idiot now.

The god shared the same grin on his face, but more cockier. "That's my girl."

"Wait," Percy said quickly. "What's the catch here?"

Ares didn't seem happy to be questioned like that. He took his shades off, and the fireballs flared angrily again as he stared at the boy. "I need something returned to me, and you need a ride to California," he answered with a smirk.

Percy didn't look any better. "Tell us more."

The god sighed irritably. "It's this abandoned amusement park. Aphrodite and I were there together, but I happened to forget my shield in the tunnel of love," he explained.

Percy weighed their options since this was his quest, staring at the god of war before nodding reluctantly, and the two shook hands. The god smirked. "Meet me here tonight."

<:::>

 

        The waterpark was abandoned and easy to get inside. There were kiosks and shops filled with merchandise left untouched. It had taken a majority of the day to find this place unfortunately, only giving them a few hours to get the shield back to Ares by tonight. They all walked into one of the stores, where tons of merchandise with the logo for the waterpark stamped on everything. Annabeth had grabbed another yellow backpack and stuffed a few changes of clothes into the bag and slung it over her shoulder. Reagan was moving through the aisles, looking at the glass snow globes and everything. There was a metal bin filled with red balls, and Reagan picked one up and bounced it, smiling at how bouncy it was. She shrugged and held onto it as they all left and continued searching for the tunnel of love. Percy was being generous, and had given Reagan full control of this miniature quest since it was her dad's, and because he could tell that she wanted to impress Ares just as much as he wanted to impress his own dad. And it wasn't everyday that you're claimed and get to see who your dad is for the first time. Reagan had been claimed and saw her dad for the first time all in one minute.

        As they walked, Reagan bounced the rubber ball with a grin, and Annabeth could tell how big of a difference there was with this Reagan and the Reagan she was talking to during this whole quest. She seemed almost....happier. Even if her dad was an idiot, bully of a god. Soon enough they located the tunnel of love and walked over. There wasn't any water, leaving the boats sitting there forlornly on the cold ground. Reagan grinned, already starting to make her way down the steep slope, but Annabeth grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"We need a plan first, Reagan."

"Fine," Reagan murmured, pulling from her grasp and standing straight. "Okay so... Grover and Percy keep watch," she said, looking at the Satyr and her friend, and they both nodded. "Annabeth come down with me."

        A dark blush appeared on the Wise Girl's face, but she nodded and the two slowly made their way down the slope and down below together. It took a few minutes of searching, and in a boat was Ares shield.

"Why would he leave his shield here?" Reagan asked curiously as they made their way to the boat.

"He and Aphrodite were here together.....you know," Annabeth supplied awkwardly.

Reagan seemed confused even more. "Why would Aphrodite come here?"

Annabeth blushed even more if possible and rolled her eyes. "Just come on," she muttered, jumping into the boat.

        The child of Ares shrugged and followed, picking up the shield that shrunk down into the size of a wristwatch. She grinned and slipped it on. In seconds, alarms blared, spotlights blinding them for a second. Before she could even get a question out, a large net dropped down on top of them as cameras popped out of various hiding spots.

"Live on Olympus!" a mechanical voice announced from somewhere above.

Annabeth had pulled out her dagger along with Reagan. "This must be one of Hephaestus'-" she said, but the sentence dropped into a high pitched scream as tiny, robotic spiders spilled over the wall and down towards them, surrounding them.

        This had caught Reagan by total surprise as Annabeth practically pounced on her for dear life, making the crammed space even smaller. She tried using her own dagger to hold back the spiders from overwhelming them, but there were thousands upon thousands of them things crawling over each other in attempt to reach the Demigods first, and Annabeth was making it difficult for Reagan to hold them back as the blonde clamped onto her back for dear life. There was a countdown coming from somewhere above them, and Reagan looked around frantically.

"P-Percy can you help us down here?"

        Percy was panicking too along with Grover, but stopped when Reagan had called his name. He thought for a while before getting an idea. It took all of his energy, but he caused an explosion within all the water pipes, causing water to come rushing out in a torrent. The water filled the tunnel of love, washing the spiders away much to Annabeth's pleasure, but also sent the boat they were in rushing down the tunnel with all the water too. They both screamed, holding onto each other for dear life. The boat was quickly sailing towards the boarded up exit, the boat ahead of them and crashing into it and splintering to pieces.

"We need to jump!" Annabeth shouted.

Reagan pulled away from her embrace, clutching the side of the small boat instead. "Are you crazy? We don't know what's on the other side!"

"Just do it!"

        Reagan didn't want to, but she didn't have any other option. They held hands tightly, and Annabeth told her when to go. She was eager to jump, but they had to wait until the right moment. The tip of the boat was inches from the wreckage, and when it hit the couple jumped up, and the boat sent them flying. They landed in a pool of water that had filled when Percy made the pipes explode, landing with a splash in the dark water. Grover and Percy helped them out, and then the four raced back to the diner in the dead of night to meet back up with Ares.


	8. I Want to Forget.

     Ares was waiting for them like he had said. The god was leaning against his motorcycle casually with his arms crossed over his chest, his shotgun in a holster on his bike. It was dark out except for the street lamps, and the diner was still open, empty aside from a few people. On the trip back, Reagan had grown angry with every passing minute. Her dad had sent them right into a trap set by Hephaestus. He smiled coolly when he saw them and stood straight, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket as he walked over to meet them. The shield had grown to its full size again, and Reagan had angrily shoved the object into her dads chest. 

"You set us up!" Reagan spat angrily. 

Ares shrugged, turning the shield over in his hands like he was checking to make sure they didn't make any scratches in the metal. "I couldn't get caught in that trap. It would be scandalous," he said flatly. He didn't even seem in the slightest bit guilty for what they had gone through for him, didn't seem to care about his daughter whatsoever. 

         He whistled and turned, walking to his motorcycle and placing the large shield on the front of his ride proudly. Reagan stared him down with nothing but hatred in her eyes. She glared down at the pavement then, hands clenching into tight balls at her sides. Her gaze was unreadable with her hair covering her eyes. 

"I hate you," she whispered after a moment, then louder. "I hate you!"

Her dad just shrugged again and got on his bike. "Use that hate for something useful now, runt," he advised truthfully. He stared her down before rolling his eyes and snapping his fingers again. "And that dagger of yours is pathetic. That ring should do better now." With that his motorcycle came to life, but Ares remembered something and pulled out a backpack, throwing it at Reagan.

"This truck will take you as far as Las Vegas. Oh, and Jackson?" Ares called out. "Hades got your mom down in the Underworld, waiting for you."

Then he was gone. 

There was a large truck behind where he had been, the drivers inside the diner were eating. "That must be the ride he was talking about," Percy said, running over and forcing the large doors open a sliver, large enough for them to slip in.

        Reagan was still standing there numbly with the backpack in her arms. Annabeth wanted to say something positive, but nothing came to mind. So as Grover and Percy climbed into the truck, Annabeth pulled Reagan with her into the truck. Percy closed the doors behind them, and they were all shocked at the sight they met. Animals were forced into variously sized cages. The lions mane was matted down, suckers and cotton candy sticking to it. His ribs poked out, like he hasn't eaten a proper meal in days. There was a bag of radishes in front of his cage and in front of the cage with a zebra was a few pounds of raw ground beef. Grover immediately began to whine, walking over and making sure the lion had the meat and the zebra had the radishes. The lion began to eat eagerly, biting into the meat hungrily and chewing. 

        Everyone began to settle down in silence. Grover was still taking care of the animals, and Percy was talking about the prophecy now, slowly going through each line. They were anxious to get to California now. It wasn't that long of a quest so far, but everything that had happened made it seem much longer. Reagan was sitting against the side, the backpack on her lap. She hadn't spoken or done anything at all. All Reagan did was stare down at her lap. Her shoulders felt even heavier then before. She thought that she'd be happy to finally know who her parent was, but it only ended up making her feel worse. She reached up, touching the simple silver ring on a basic chain necklace. She only wore the chain necklace and then the camp necklace with her five beads on the string. 

        For or a moment Reagan considered taking off the ring and seeing what Ares had done with it, but decided she wanted nothing to do with her real dad. Annabeth was watching Reagan curiously, wanting to be supportive but not wanting to seem intrusive. Eventually the recently claimed Demigod laid down with her back to everyone. 

 

<:::>

 

        The truck had stopped in Las Vegas, and the sound of the two men going to the back of the truck stirred the kids from their sleep. The large doors squealed open slowly, and by the time the men peered inside, the four had successfully hidden. When they finally left, Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Reagan climbed out. 

"They want us to let them out," Grover piped up after a moment, turning to look inside at the sad looking animals in their cages. 

        Percy looked at his friend before nodding. He climbed back into truck and took out Riptide, cutting the cages open. The lion licked his chops menacingly, but was more eager to run away than hungry to eat four scrawny kids. The zebra galloped away along with the lion, and most of the people around must have thought it was some kind of show instead, because they didn't seem really scared at the loose animals roaming the streets. They walked along a sidewalk, taking in all the different buildings. It reminded Reagan of a tiny model of the world, all the worldly popular monuments dropped into one large city. A man dressed in a bell hop uniform was smiling as they approached the front of a tall hotel. He waved them inside. The inside was extravagant. It was a video game arcade, with kids running around or playing different games and eating food. Reagan knew in an instant she would never be able to go here unless she sold her soul to Hades or something to pay for her and her mom to stay for maybe two days if they were lucky. 

"We can't afford this," Percy deadpanned while shaking his head in awe. 

The bell hop shook his head vigorously. "Already paid for!" He pulled out eight cards from the inside of his jacket, handing one of each color to the kids so they had two cards each. "One is for the snack bar and the other card gives you access to every arcade game here. Your room is 243."

        They began to argue, but the bell hop ushered them off, and they reluctantly made their way to an elevator to find their hotel room. The hotel room was amazing. There was a mini fridge packed with soda and chips, and they all pigged out happily. 

"It wouldn't hurt to check out the arcade," Grover piped up behind a mouthful of salty potato chips. 

        The arcade was filled with all sorts of games. Annabeth was playing this architecture game where she was building an entire city in her image. Grover was playing this weird game where the deer were hunting humans, which personally freaked Reagan out. There were plenty of games to her liking. Especially the more strategic RPG games. But she hasn't even spoken since she lost the motivation to do that too since speaking to Ares the night before. So Reagan was at the snack bar, the bar stool rotating as she sat on it. A server set down a chocolate and banana milkshake right in front of her like he had read her mind. It made her think of her mom, even the taste reminded her of all the times she and her mom made milkshakes together when she was a child. So Reagan found comfort at the bottom of the tall milkshake glasses, drinking one after another easily. She spent the time watching the other kids. A girl with bell bottom jeans walked by, and Reagan stared at her before turning forward and tapping the glass thoughtfully. She was shaken from her thoughts when someone grabbed her shoulder and forced her to turn around. It was Percy, flanked by Grover and Annabeth. 

"What's up?" Reagan asked curiously. 

"We need to leave. Like right now," Percy said, grabbing Reagan and beginning to pull on her. 

She scowled and wrenched away from his grip. "No way!"

"Reagan pl-" Annabeth began, but Reagan cut her off. 

"I don't want to go." She sounded like she was final and turned away back to her milkshake indignantly. 

Percy rolled his eyes. "Stop being childish." He reached over to drag Reagan off that stool if necessary. 

        Reagan flinched from his grip and frowned, turning to stare at him. "Just leave me! Gods, I'm forgetting," she said angrily. "Just let me forget. I just want to..." She sighed deeply and massaged her temples. "I just want to forget," she muttered. "I want to forget about being a Demigod. Forget who my dad is." Reagan touched the beaded camp necklace wistfully and stared off into space. "No Demigod problems."

        Any Demigod could admit that would be pretty sweet. But Percy shook his head and practically dragged Reagan, and with the help of Grover and Annabeth the four of them were back outside on the Las Vegas sidewalk. Percy ran over to a newspaper stand and peered through the clear glass. He seemed relieved, but panic still knotted his stomach into knots. 

"It's been five days!" he exclaimed. 

Reagan felt her eyes widen into saucers. "Are you serious?!"

Annabeth looked up at the hotel, face sickly pale. "Time must be weird in there then," she murmured. 

Percy was still panicking as Annabeth waved  down a taxi on the street. "We only have one day left before the Winter Solstice." She stayed completely calm as she opened the taxi door and waved them all in, climbing in last. 

"We need to get to Los Angeles," Annabeth told the driver. 

He eyed them suspiciously from the rearview mirror. "How you gonna pay?"

Annabeth collected all of their Lotus Hotel cards. "These should do."

He arched an eyebrow but took them all, taking one and sliding it through the debit card reader. Infinity signs showed up on the tiny monitor, and the man's eyes widened dramatically. "Los Angeles it is," he muttered, driving off as hazardously and dangerously as possible.


	9. A New Weapon.

   Their first stop in Los Angeles was the ocean. Reagan wasn't sure why, but it was Percy's idea and actually...she trusted him more and actually liked him strangely enough. The son of Poseidon waded into his fathers realm, and a shark drifted over and carried him farther into sea. They watched in awe as he disappeared under the water.

"Should we....go after them?" Annabeth asked after a moment of awkward silence.

Reagan shook her head. "Let's not," she muttered, crouching down then plopping down on her butt in the sand, hugging her knees to her chest.

Annabeth sat down beside Reagan in the sand with her legs outstretched in front of her.

"So back in that hotel..." Annabeth began awkwardly. "You really didn't want to leave?"

Reagan nodded half-heartedly. "Yeah. How cowardly," she muttered. 

Annabeth shook her head. "No. It's a smart idea," she confessed. "Forgetting would be nice every once and a while," she said truthfully as she stared at the ocean. 

        Neither of them spoke then, and by then Percy was emerging from the water. He broke through the surface and swam back to shore. His clothes were bone dry, and as he explained what had happened, they walked back into the large city of L.A. Reagan thought that L.A. was a shining city with clean sidewalks and streets. But people were rude and garbage littered the streets. They were walking down one of the streets, and Grover shifted uncomfortably. 

"Peeercy," he bleated out nervously. "Don't you think it's dangerous for the four of us to just walk down the street like this?"

Percy shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. "Nah. I walked around New York alone all the time. And Los Angeles isn't that different."

        That was proven wrong, however, when a group of teenagers popped out of an alleyway ahead of them. They all looked so intimidating, and they four of them were certain that the teenagers probably had pocket knives. 

"We need to go," Annabeth said. 

They turned, but Reagan stayed where she was, confident in her abilities. "I can take them," she said with a cocky smirk. 

Percy rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm and pulled her along as the teens slowly advanced. "You're only thirteen. Now come on!"

        The four of them dashed off in the opposite direction of the teenagers who immediately took chase eagerly. Percy was leading the way, and Reagan took the end and made sure that neither Annabeth nor Grover lagged or slowed down too much. They turned a corner quickly, dashing into a mattress store and ducking behind a king sized bed. The teenagers ran passed, laughing and shouting to each other as they trampled down the street and were gone. 

"Foolish children."

They all jumped in surprise and turned, thinking that the owner was going to kick them out, but he was shaking his head at the window. "They always chase off all of my business." Finally his gaze landed on them and he smiled brightly. "Come! Let me show you around."

Percy shook his head as they stood up. "Uh, we really need to be-"

"Nonsense. Now come!" 

        The man had wrapped an arm around Percy's shoulder, leading them all deeper into the store. Eventually they all stopped, and the owner waved one beefy hand over a large mattress with black satin sheets. 

"This bed gives massages. Give it a try."

        They all shook their heads no, but the man quickly shoved Grover onto the bed. Before the Satyr could say something, the bed started to vibrate. A sense of serenity filled his eyes, and he made this weird goat noise at the enjoyable sensation. The salesman smiled, hands on his hips. A few seconds passed and he suddenly snapped his fingers. Ropes appeared, wrapping around Grover's ankles and wrists, securely tightening. He yelped and began to struggle against his restraints.

"What-" Annabeth began, but was too late and couldn't escape as ropes lashed out and tightly wrapped around her ankles and wrists, tying her to a nearby bed.

        Reagan's eyes widened along with Percy's eyes as their friends were being stretched. When ropes flung out to grasp them, Reagan dove and rolled away, going to pull her small dagger out.

Percy shook his head as he uncapped Riptide. "The dagger won't be good enough."

She grit her teeth. "Shut up, Percy."

"H-He's right, Reagan," Annabeth sputtered out, a groan following as she was stretched to match the height of the bed she was laying on.

The man tsked while shaking his head. "What a shame," he commented. "No one ever fits the correct size of my beds."

        Reagan hated this more than anything else right now, but knew they were right. She prayed to the gods as she sheathed her dagger and reached up with her hand, grabbing the silver ring and breaking the metal chain around her neck. As soon as she did that, a metal rod began to expand into a seven foot long spear with a sharpened and decorated point. The cool thing was that the spearhead was engulfed in fire, which seemed to change its shape according to her emotion and even at her own will. Reagan jabbed without a second thought, and as soon as the rope touched the fire it was incinerated. 

"You're Procrustus!" Percy exclaimed. 

The man smirked. "The one and only."

"Say, Procrustus," Percy began. "Have you ever tried one of these beds?"

"Uh...no?"

Percy nodded. "You should definitely try it out. Your beds look comfortable."

        The man seemed to weigh his options as he stared at the two kids, then eventually nodded. He experimentally laid down on a bed, which was a mistake. Percy snapped his fingers, and soon enough Procrustus was tied down to his own bed, and began to pull at the wires angrily. Percy walked over to the bed, slowly uncapping Riptide. 

"Seems like you're too tall for this one," Percy observed. "Maybe a few inches off the top will do."

He rose his sword up, ready to cut off a few inches from Procrustus. "W-Wait! What do you want? Whatever it is, I can get it for you!" Procrustus said nervously. 

"Like what?"

"You're looking to get into Hades realm, yes?" Procrustus asked knowingly after a moment. "I have an address here."

        Percy seemed to consider this before nodding. He rose his sword again, but to Procrustus' dismay, he still had a few too many inches cut off the top.


	10. DOA Recording Studios.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I keep forgetting that DOA stands for Dead On Arrival lmao

      Percy had cut his friends from their bonds, and the four had started to search the store. Reagan had made a smart comment about Annabeth being almost as tall as her now, which Annabeth responded with a firm, "shut up" and a faint blush of embarrassment on her face. They found a small amount of golden drachmas and mortal paper money. Reagan was searching through drawers before finding something interesting. On a brown piece of packing paper was an address, and the only reason she knew it was the Underworlds address was because it said so in small print. 

"Found it."

They all looked at it curiously, and Percy took it and shoved it into his pocket while nodding. "Let's go."

 

<:::>

 

        DOA Recording Studios looked like any other building in Los Angeles. Except next to the door was a sign saying. "NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING." Grover whimpered at this, but they all continued inside silently. The walls were a steel colored grey, with leather couches and chairs. There were security guards too. But the thing was, if you looked closely at anyone in there, their bodies shimmered and sometimes turned transparent, and you could see their bones underneath. The four kids walked through to a raised podium, where a man was standing and skimming through a magazine without really looking at it. Like he had looked through it twenty times before already. When they made their presence known, he finally looked up at them and frowned deeply while shaking his head sadly. 

"I don't suppose you have coins for passage. Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your American Express, or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. But with children ... alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries," he explained. 

They glanced behind them at all the dead standing and waiting, for gods know how long. 

"Uh no," Percy said while shaking his head quickly. "We were wondering if you could let us into the Underworld, uh Charon?" he asked, pronouncing it like Chiron 

The sympathy left his eyes, and his nostrils flared with anger. "It's pronounced Chi-ron. Don't compare me to that old horse."

Before Percy could continue, Reagan interjected. She confidently walked up to the podium and leaned forward against it, arching an eyebrow curiously. 

"Say, is that an Italian silk suit you're wearing?" she asked. 

Charon's eyes lit up. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Perché io sono italiana. Vedi?" Reagan said fluently and casually. 

The man's eyes lit up more if possible. "I do see!" he exclaimed. 

Reagan nodded proudly. "I can hook you up with more suits just like that," she offered, then turned away and rummaged through Annabeth's backpack and pulled out a small pouch filled with golden drachmas. "Why, I can give you a number. Call that number and give them my name. Tell them that I said you can have some of the Italian silk suits," she explained, reaching up towards the podium. 

        Reagan tore off a slip of paper on the podium and grabbed a pen, scribbling a cellphone number and holding it up to Charon. His eyes glowed as he reached out to take the slip of paper, but she quickly snatched it out of his reach. 

"Give us passage to the Underworld," she said in a more ordering tone of voice. 

        When he didn't respond, she hummed absently and began to set drachmas down in front of him, and didn't stop until there were two tall columns of golden drachmas piled in front of him. Charon licked his lips greedily, then finally relented. 

"Fine, fine!" Charon growled, scooping up the golden drachmas and taking the phone number. "Follow me," he grumbled. 

Charon walked to an elevator, keeping the spirits at bay who have been waiting to get into the Underworld for decades. "Get back!" he snapped. "Get back!"

        When they were finally inside the elevator together, century old music started playing. Reagan felt a tug at the clothes on her shoulder, and she looked over and at Annabeth. The blonde's eyebrows were knitted together. 

"You know Italian?"

Reagan smirked. "I am Italian, Annabeth," she corrected her. 

Percy edged closer to them. "Thank gods you're here than," he muttered, glancing up at Charon. 

Reagan shrugged. "I'm pretty good to have around sometimes."

        Annabeth stared up at Reagan curiously, and for the first time ever she felt like she was finally starting to get to know the slightly older Demigod.


	11. Reagan Makes a Friend.

    The Underworld was definitely depressing. Black mountains were in the distance, barely reaching the stalagmite filled ceiling. Charon began to walk, and they all followed after him quickly as to not get lost among the spirits. They walked on a pier towards a boat, and once again Charon had to make sure none of the spirits climbed onto the boat with them. Once on the boat, they were all careful not to tip the boat over or fall into the river. As they waded down the river, Reagan glanced up at Charon, only to inhale sharply and quickly look away. His face has morphed, and instead of flesh and eyes she had seen white bone with dark eyeless sockets. 

Eventually they hey reached another pier and the four hopped off of the boat. When they turned to look a him, Charon was already maneuvering the boat around and called out. "Make sure to ask Hades for a raise for me!" he shouted over his shoulder. 

        They watched him disappear down the river again before turning to continue their journey. There were crowded lines filled with restless spirits. As they waded through all the waiting spirits, the crowd split into lines. Some were long lines that were waiting for judgment, and then a line split off into an EZ line straight into the Fields of Asphodel. Suddenly a growl, low and menacing filled their ears. As they neared where the crowd split into lines, slowly a large silhouette manifested itself. A three headed dog loomed over everything, checking to make sure that all the dead were actually dead and not someone living trying to sneak through. Apparently getting a whiff of fresh Demigods and a goat boy, six beady eyes zoned in on them and growled menacingly. There wasn't anyway to get around, only through his legs. 

"How do we get p-passed this?" Grover whimpered. 

        Reagan was staring at the large dog, lips pursed into a thin line. She turned and rifled through the backpack that Percy was starting to hold instead now, and eventually pulled out the same red rubber ball she had found at the water park. 

"What are you going to do?" Percy asked as he shouldered the backpack again. 

        Reagan weighed the ball in her hand before bouncing the ball high up in the air. The red ball caught the dogs attention, and Cerberus turned all heads as they watched the tiny ball soar into the air right out of reach and back into Reagan's hand. 

"I'm going to use this ball to train Cerberus," Reagan explained dryly without looking away from the large dog. "He... He just needs a friend is all," she added, but didn't sound so confident at that. "You guys go on without me. I'll keep him busy."

        She bounced the ball gently this time, keeping the dogs attention. Reagan looked up at him and frowned sadly, holding it up experimentally and waving it. As Cerberus' heads all followed after the ball, she grinned and tossed it up. The head to the left caught the red ball eagerly, and the other two heads responded by snapping at the poor third head in attempt to get a turn with the rubber ball. Reagan watched as the rubber ball was already getting torn up between the razor sharp teeth of one head. 

"Drop it!" she shouted up at them. All three heads turned to look at her like "Is this puny mortal really asking for our toy?!" But Reagan put her hands on her hips and repeated in a harsher tone. "Drop it!"

        Reluctantly the ball dropped from a drooling mouth, covered in saliva as it rolled to Reagan's feet. Percy thought she was crazy as she picked up the ball without a second thought. "Now sit!" she shouted up at them, holding up the ball again to captivate their attention. To Percy's and Grover's surprise, Cerberus plopped down, crushing a group of the dead passing between its legs. The dog's tail was wagging happily, and Reagan was pretty sure that Cerberus hadn't been played with in many, many centuries. 

"See. You all just needed some love. Am I right?" Reagan shouted up at them in a mother-like tone, a genuine smile etched into her features. 

        The heads barked happily in response, causing the cavern to shake like there was an earthquake. Reagan made sure to throw the ball up as hard and high as possible. Cerberus shot up, standing on its hind legs so that the middle head successfully caught the ball. The large dog landed on all fours, the two outer heads growling and snapping or the ball that the middle head had. 

"Go!" Reagan said quickly without taking her eyes off of Cerberus. 

"What about you?" Percy asked as they all carefully edged underneath Cerberus to pass through his legs. 

"I'll catch up."

        Annabeth watched Reagan closely, but a tug from Percy brought her back to reality. Turning, the three remaining turned and ran towards the Fields of Asphodel. After a moment of them running, they stopped and started to walk through the boring field. Several minutes passed in silence, but panting caused them to turn around and watch as Reagan was running in their direction away from Cerberus. 

"W-What is this place?" Reagan panted as she caught up with them. 

"Fields of Asphodel," Annabeth answered, glancing up at Reagan than away. "It's where the spirits that didn't do anything special go for an eternity."

"It's like standing in a wheat field in Arkansas, like, forever," Grover said as he glanced around. 

        The spirits didn't seem to take any notice of them four, even passing through them sometimes and leaving a cold chill. Stalactites had fallen from the roof of the Underworld, impaling into the ground. It made Percy nervously glance up and hope that they wouldn't get hit by falling rocks. Reagan had gone silent, and Annabeth was the first to notice. 

"You okay?" she asked softly. 

Reagan was staring at her knotted hands. "I always wanted a dog of my own. I had an alley cat for a friend, because the apartment didn't allow animals," she muttered, thumbs tuning over faint white scars all over her hands. Annabeth noticed them for the first time. Otherwise, if you didn't really look at her hands too long you'd never really notice all of the scars that lined her flesh in random, zig-zagging patterns. "I always loved to play with the kitten, even though he cut me up really badly."

        Annabeth stared at her hands as they walked, Cerberus' mournful howls impossible to ignore as his newfound friend left.


	12. Grover Goes Flying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another TOO SHORT chapter wow why did I write them this way.

The black walls of Hades' castle loomed in the distance, the River Styx slowly churning as they crossed over it. They were passing a tunnel, and the surrounding air was so cold that puffs of their breath drifted out of their mouths. Reagan slowed to look down the tunnel, eyes narrowing before slowly walking down that tunnel. The further she went down the tunnel, the colder the air got. It was like a knife that was so hot that it was frozen when it touched her skin, that kind of cold if that made any sense. Her breath fogged up, and her friends words were just sounds that she never registered. "Reagan," a voice murmured in the back of her head, urging her forward. The whispering disappeared, and suddenly reality came crashing into her. Literally. Reagan had turned to run back to her friends, but Grover flew right into her. His shoes had come to life on their own accord, taking Grover down the tunnel without his consent. 

        He he was trying to grab onto anything that he could, which wasn't much. Which left Reagan the only thing to grab onto. She didn't say anything, because the situation was pretty easy to understand. Reagan hugged Grover around his shoulders, trying to dig her heels into the ground to no avail. Without letting go, Grover began to drag her to wherever the shoes wanted to take him. In the distance a large gaping hole came into view, and Reagan's eyes widened. She was going to run right into that?! Percy dove forward, grabbing Reagan by the back of her feet and pulling. Her grip on Grover faltered, and she almost let go if it weren't for her fingers desperately holding onto Grover's hooves as the shoes fluttered towards the massive hole. Eventually the shoes slipped off his hooves and he tumbled to the ground with a groan. The shoes slipped from Reagan's grasp, fluttered above their heads and went to to kick them, and then fell into the bottomless pit. 

Reagan was laying on the ground with Grover and Percy, all three panting heavily as Annabeth finally caught up with them. 

"Grover, remind me where you got those again...?" Reagan muttered between breaths of cold air. 

"Luke gave them to me, but b-because I can't fly in Zeus' land, I gave them to Grover," Percy explained as he pushed himself to his feet and inhaled deeply to regain his breath. He paused like he had just realized something. "Do you think Luke could have done this on purpose?"

Both Reagan and Annabeth stiffened. "No," they said in unison, blinking and looking at each other in surprise than looking away, allowing Annabeth to continue. "It must be some malfunction or something. Luke wouldn't do this."

Reagan looked up to Luke too much to believe that he would ever purposely put any of them into danger. She looked up to him in so many ways, even more so than most campers looked up to Chiron. 

"Is that hole the way into.....?" Reagan asked slowly with uncertainty as she helped Grover up too, unable to even finish the sentence. 

"Tartarus," Annabeth finished for her without looking away from the endless depth that lead into a mortals equivalent to hell. 

A rumbling started, the rocky cavern beginning to shake. At first they thought it might have been some earthquake, but then the air turned colder and a cold laugh echoed from straight down in Tartarus. 

"We need to leave. Now." Percy said, and they all nodded in agreement. 

        They turned and started to run, and this invisible force was trying to pull them into the monstrous hole. Fighting against it, they made their way back down the tunnel and towards Hades' castle. That same cold laugh echoed all the way through the tunnel they had just come from before slowly it could no longer be heard at all.


	13. I Will Fail To Save What Matters Most.

        They walked through the front gates of the castle that now loomed over them, and through this dark and mellow garden. The plants were dead or wilting, bones littering the ground in patterns, skulls poking up through the dirt like they wanted to greet the guests. Reagan thought it looked cool in some dystopian kind of way. However, one tree looked perfectly fine. Pomegranates looked like they were floating as they hung off branches and twigs. Reagan's mouth watered at the sight and she slowly walked over to pluck one off a branch to take, but Annabeth's hand gripping her wrist caused her to stop. 

"Have you got any idea on how Persephone became Hades wife?" she asked irritably. 

Reagan rolled her eyes and pulled from Annabeth's grip. "I do, actually," she spat back acidly. 

"Then you should know better," Annabeth scolded like Reagan was an infant. 

        Reagan ignored her and looked back towards the forbidden fruit, then quickly followed after the other three into the castle. Guards were everywhere. Some were naked skeletons, and the others had decaying bodies with clothes on, most from wars that were fought right now and in the past. They held bows, AK 47's, and old time-y muskets. Hades must have known they were coming, because their soulless eyes were on the four of them as they walked through the hall. The black doors were ahead, which must have been the throne room where Hades was now. Percy stormed forward confidently, one guard on either side of the door that didn't stop him as he shoved the doors open and stormed through them. Reagan, Annabeth, and Grover walked in behind him, and the doors slammed shut behind them with a bang. 

        Hades' throne was black and withered, matching the man that sat on it. His robes were black, horrendous screaming faces that reminded Reagan of the faces of Medusa's stone statues in her garden. Except on his black robes the faces morphed into a different screaming face of the damned. Hades looked rather irritated that they managed to get into his kingdom like this, but he was still prepared for them nonetheless. The god tapped his pale index finger against the arm of his throne impatiently. His hair was black, greasy, and slicked back. Next to the throne of death was a prettier, less scary throne. It was made of green grass closely woven together. Various flowers were blossoming all over it. Annabeth and Grover knelt immediately as they got closer to the dark throne. Percy and Reagan were reluctant to do so, but for some reason she felt compelled to do what he wanted. 

"Percy Jackson," Hades sneered as they all stood up. "Where is it, boy?"

Percy looked confused. "Where is what?"

"My helm!" Hades exclaimed with a hint of anger. 

"I don't..." There was a pause as Percy gripped the strap of his backpack, eyes going wide. 

        At Hades' order, the dead advanced upon them slowly, weapons raised. Reagan was staring down the tip of a musket. The pulled her ring out and it grew into a long spear, the flaming tip keeping the dead at bay as she urged the flames to grow larger. 

"Mom!"

        Reagan looked over, and was surprised at the sight of an older woman suspended in a cloud of gold dust. She looked like she was suffering. Her throat looked constricted, and  her eyes were bulging. She felt a tinge of sympathy for Percy, because Reagan's own mom was alive and kicking still in Manhattan. Percy stiffly pulled out four white pearls from his pocket, staring down at them then at his mother longingly. 

"Save your mom, Percy," Reagan said over her shoulder without looking away from the musket pointed at her. 

"I will fail to save what matters most in the end," Percy recited the prophecy. 

        Before anyone could interject, Percy threw down the four pearls with so much force that they shattered. Nothing happened. Hades laughed, the cold sound echoing off the walls. With an order from the god, the corpses slowly came towards them. The musket came closer to Reagan, so close that the tip of the spear barely touched the tip of the musket now. Then a bubble swallowed her up whole before the battle could begin. The bubbles lifted them off the ground slowly at first, steadily rising up towards the ceiling of the throne room. 

"Can w-we control these things?" Annabeth asked nervously from her own private bubble. 

        They were flying straight up towards the ceiling, jagged edges threatening to pop their bubbles. Reagan's spear shortened until it was a ring again, and she slipped it into her pocket since it was too large to fit on her finger. She was certain that they would all crash into the ceiling of the throne room, but instead they passed right through it. The last thing that was heard was Hades' roar of anger that shook the throne room.


	14. Growing Closer.

 The four drifted up through darkness for several long minutes of silence. Then suddenly light shone through her bubble. When Reagan looked up, she was temporarily blinded by the bright rays of sunlight, distorted but appearing nonetheless. The bubble slowed down, and to her astonishment a large fish with muddled, grey scales drifted past her before darting away into the murkiness. Finally the bubbles popped above the ocean, and they all fell into the water with a splash. Los Angeles was a mess, and Reagan guessed that was because of Hades below creating an earthquake when he shouted. Pillars of smoke drifted up, created by fires that the earthquakes must have started. They floated there in utter silence, with Percy hugging the backpack to his chest sadly. His eyes looked stormy at the moment, green eyes dark and murky like the ocean they were floating in. In the distance a boat was heading in their direction, and it belonged to the authorities. Blinking, Percy Jackson willed himself to get wet so that they wouldn't look weird, and then gave Grover his shoes so that the authorities wouldn't pick up a goat boy. Reagan felt immensely bad for Percy because he had to leave his mom behind in the Underworld.

     The boat picked them up and took them back to shore, and the four of them had quickly made up an excuse and were now walking down the docks, drenched to the bones. A man was standing on the beach, a shotgun casually resting on his shoulder as he stared out at the vast ocean. When they neared him, they easily realized who it was. Ares. The God of War was waiting for them, and turned as soon as they were close enough to recognize him. Percy's eyes immediately narrowed, and Reagan shuffled uncomfortably and stared at anything except her own father. This was her father, this god, had an interest in her mother even if it was only temporary. The thought was somehow unsettling now. 

"So you survived," Ares observed dryly with a sigh, his gaze facing over the Satyr and each Demigod, including his own daughter before looking back at Percy. "I was hoping Hades could finish the job," he sneered. 

"It was you," Percy said flatly, shaking slightly with anger. "You gave us this bag that had the Helm of Darkness in it. You wanted us to walk right into the Underworld with Hades helm, so that he'd think we stole it!"

Ares smirked. "You think it's only me pulling the strings here, kid? There's forces out there even more powerful than me."

Percy scowled. "You set up your own daughter!" he shouted angrily, waving a hand towards Reagan, who really didn't seem like she wanted to be noticed right now. Her shoulders were shrunken in, like she was trying to make herself shrink. 

Ares noticed her for the first time. "You think she's more important than what's going on here?" Then he paused, a stricken expression on his face as a dark shroud passed through them like a cold wind. 

Percy shook his head, and Ares was back at it again like nothing had happened. "I want to challenge you to a sword fight. Whoever wins gets the helm and the lightning bolt," Percy offered, and when Ares grinned maliciously and pulled the shotgun out, the Demigod continued, "first blood wins."

Ares still grinned, a roar of laughter coming out suddenly. "Do you even know who I am, kid?"

"A big, dumb idiot?"

The god chuckled and shook his head, the shotgun transforming into a large sword that Ares carried with one hand, but if one of them tried to pick it up it would take both hands and two people to do so. "I like your spunk. You've got yourself a deal."

     Percy handed the backpack over to Reagan and pulled Riptide out, taking slow and deliberate steps towards Ares. Mortals walked passed them, couples whispering to each other and Reagan knew this wouldn't end with them running away like in the past. When the battle started, she was surprised that Percy was still alive even in the first few seconds. It was proof enough of how much he had changed since the beginning of their quest, when she was sure that he wouldn't live for a few minutes against a fight with her father. But even now, Percy was careful. He rolled and sliced at Ares, but instead of deflecting incoming attacks, the Demigod danced out of reach of the blade then attacked again. 

     Had she changed at all? She had been claimed by her godly parent, but he didn't seem to really care about her too much. Did he care about any of his children? As Reagan watched Ares and Percy duel, she felt something bubbling and twisting in the pit of her stomach, and she couldn't exactly pinpoint it. Jealousy? Maybe she was jealous of Percy, who seemed to be getting all this favor from the gods, who even got attention from Ares who didn't seem to notice her presence at all. But it wasn't that exactly. She was...angry. Angry with her father and the gods, who didn't seem to care about most their children. She was angry with her father because the only reason he claimed her was because he wanted to get his stupid shield back. 

She wasn't aware that she was glaring. 

"Reagan, are you okay?"

     She looked over at Annabeth, and behind her was Grover, who was watching the battle whilst chewing on his shirt slightly. But Annabeth's calm grey eyes were on her and her alone, which for some reason made Reagan's heart race with excitement. But when Annabeth repeated the question, Reagan was snapped from her thoughts as a howl of anger and pain could be heard. And then there were police sirens, the flashing red and blue lights momentarily blinding her when she looked over at the sidewalk where police cars were parked, the officers holding out guns at percy and Ares as normal mortals watched with gaping mouths. When she looked back over at the battle, Percy was in the water, waves lapping at his ankles as they washed away golden blood that dripped from a wound on Ares leg. The god had a snarling look on his face, lips pulled back into a sneer as he raised his sword above his head. 

"You'll pay for that," he growled. 

     There was another cold wind, like some invisible miasma of death and fear settled over them, permeating their bones. Ares went perfectly still, arms shaking ever so slightly with the force of a deadly strike just waiting to happen. Then the invisible presence disappeared, and Ares blinked in surprise and slowly lowered his weapon, which then transformed into a shotgun again. 

"They have guns!" a mortal whispered from somewhere behind the squad cars. Ares didn't seem to notice them at all. 

"You win this one," he growled, carefully stepping out of the water despite his wound. "But just you wait, Persius Jackson. One day I'll get my revenge." Ares smirked at that, a backpack appearing out of thin air that he tossed at Percy, then disappeared without warning in a golden ray of light. 

     They all had to shield their eyes, lest they want to incinerate just from the sight of Ares in his true form. Inside the backpack was Zeus' master lightning bolt, and Percy hugged the backpack to his chest and returned to his friends. Grover pounced immediately, making a bleating boat noise as he hugged his close friend tightly, saying how happy he was that Percy didn't get killed. Above them flew the three Furies, their leathery wings flapping slowly as they lowered slowly to be seen by Percy and his friends. 

"Here ya go!" Reagan shouted, checking to make sure the Helm of Darkness was still in the bag she held before throwing the whole thing up high into the air to be caught by one of the Furies. One of them lowered even more, her lips pulled back into a wolfish smirk as she pointed one gnarled finger at Percy. 

"I can't wait to see you in the Underworld when your time comes."

     Percy simply stared up at her as the flew up towards her sisters, and the three Furies disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. He shouldered the backpack right as several police officers ran over, guns still raised cautiously, and escorted the four kids back to the squad cars to be interrogated. Compared to the first lie with Medusa (Reagan still couldn't believe that Percy said they were in the circus), Percy easily persuaded the police officers that they had been captured and had escaped, but then it was quickly put together that Percy had wrestled a gun away and fought off the kidnapper until the police could arrive. He had even mustered up tears as cameras were tuned in on him. 

"My step-dad will be so happy for me to arrive back home," Percy began. "In fact, he'll be so happy that he'll give you a free appliance from his store. Just call."

     With free appliances being offered, and the four children crying and sniffling, soon enough people pitied them to the point that they began to cough up money, and there was enough money to pay for four tickets back to New York City. Percy was distraught on the airplane as he sat next to Reagan with Annabeth and Grover sitting in the row in front of them. Percy was so scared they'd be shot out of the sky that he clutched the armrests for dear life, his nails digging into the worn leather. Reagan was silent, just staring ahead as she felt the plane take off and they were up in the sky when she finally decided to look out the window, she was surprised at how scared he actually looked right now. 

Her lips quirked up into a weak smile. "I'm surprised at you, Jackson."

"W-What?"

Reagan shook her head. "You killed Medusa, made the god of the Underworld angry, fought my dad. You're scared Zeus will shoot you out of the sky?"

Percy smiled nervously at that, his grip on the armrests loosening. "We're cool than?"

     She blinked in surprise at that. Were they cool? She hadn't even realized that she had befriended Percy Jackson in any way. Only a week ago she was pretending to chop him to pieces back at camp, and now she was sitting next to him on an airplane on the way back to New York. The anger and hatred she felt for the gods and her father slowly dissipated, but was still nestled in the back of her head to think about later once she was back in her cabin. The thought of her cabin made her heart jump into her chest. Once she was back at camp, she'd be moved to the Ares cabin and be introduced to her actual siblings. The hatred for her father and the gods doubled over, and she thought she'd be in pain with how much anger she had inside.

"Yeah. We're cool." 

Yes, Reagan couldn't bring herself to ever hate Percy anymore. In some way, they had actually gotten somewhat closer in a way. 

"I'm sorry about your dad," Percy spoke up after a second, and Reagan was sure he was just talking still to keep him distracted from the idea of being hundreds of feet in the air at the mercy of a god. 

Reagan frowned briefly. "Sorry about what?"

Percy fidgeted with his fingers absently and nervously as he looked over at her. "Sorry about how he is. And that I beat him in a fight."

She grinned. "Don't be. It was really cool how you stood up to him," she confessed. 

     They drifted into silence than as a baby a few rows ahead started crying loudly. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, though. Not like before, in the awkward moments when they were forced together and had nothing to say whatsoever. Instead, Reagan allowed her eyelids to slowly droop shut into a restful sleep that she's been denying herself ever since they started this stupid quest.


	15. Home.

   Percy had to wake Reagan up once the airplane reached their destination; New York City. Home. She groggily stepped off the plane and walked with her friends through the airport, and once they reached the street Percy hailed a cab for them. 

"You guys go on without me," he said, stuffing a wad of money into Annabeth's hand. "I'm going straight to Olympus to give back Zeus' lightning bolt. I'll meet you guys at camp," he explained. 

     They were reluctant to part ways now. After a week together battling monsters and gods, something had formed between them. In a second they all meshed together, gathering in this awkward group hug with one arm here and another arm over there. Reagan wasn't even sure who she was hugging at this point, but she didn't care at all. Eventually they pulled apart, and the three climbed into the back of the taxi and waved as it drove off, leaving Percy to stand on the sidewalk alone after a week together.

     The car ride back to camp was silent, all anxious to return home after so long of a journey. As Reagan stared out the window, a tall building filled with apartments came into view, and her eyes drifted over the worn out sign, barely recognizing the familiar name of the building. Then it hit her. Reagan's eyes widened as she came to life, sitting forward so quickly that it was almost like she had been thrown from her seat.

"Can you please pull over beside that building?" Reagan asked quickly. 

The taxi driver glanced at her and nodded, slowly maneuvering the vehicle to a parking space at the side of the road. "Don't take too long, kid."

"You got it."

Reagan jumped out of the taxi, only stopping when Annabeth grabbed her arm. "Where are you going?" she demanded, almost pleaded because they were so close to going home and being done with this for good. 

"I won't be long," Reagan said, urging herself out of Annabeth's grip and running into the nearby alleyway. 

     As she jogged down the narrow path, she passed up a shabby looking cardboard box with mold beginning to form. It was the same box she used as a home for the black cat she knew when she was younger. The cardboard box home was now in disrepair, unused in maybe five years. Five years... Reagan had been at Camp Half-Blood for so long now. This might be her only chance to see her mom again before she returns to camp. Running inside, Reagan climbed the few flights of stairs and reached her old apartment, knuckles rapping against the door in quick succession. Annabeth and Grover were waiting in the taxi in silence, but she was getting impatient. Tapping her foot against the floorboard of the vehicle, Annabeth soon sighed in irritation. 

"I'm going to go get her."

     She climbed out of the taxi and walked into the rundown building, climbing up the stairs slowly as she looked around. The wallpaper was tattered, and Annabeth could spot weak points that needed to be built back up before it became a dangerous hazard. She spotted Reagan in front of a door, and she frowned. 

"Hey, Reagan-" she began, coming to stand beside her friend, but stopped when the door they were standing in front of swung open to reveal a woman with dark brown hair and dark circles around her eyes. 

The woman stared at the two kids in confusion, eyes narrowing as she looked at Reagan. Then her full lips pulled into a bright smile as she blinked in surprise. "Reagan?" she murmured slowly, voice thick with an Italian accent. 

"Mom!" the thirteen year old cried out, crashing into her mother's open arms. 

"Reagan!" the older woman exclaimed excitedly, her arms enfolding around her daughter protectively. 

There were tears in her eyes, and as Reagan's mom pulled back she hastily wiped them away and finally took notice of Annabeth standing in the doorway awkwardly. "Oh, you brought a friend," she observed. "I...I didn't know Chiron allowed campers out sometimes."

Annabeth wanted to say no, that they really needed to be leaving, but Reagan's mother looked fragile at the moment. Like she'd crumble if Reagan had to leave so quickly again. So instead, the blonde girl smiled politely. "Hello. I'm Annabeth Chase."

Reagan's mom smiled brightly, beckoning them inside and closing the door behind them. "Hello, Annabeth. You can call me Rose. I hate anything too formal."

     Annabeth smiled, realizing that Reagan and her mom were nothing alike. Rose's lips were full, black hair wavy and cascading down her back. She looked so very tired though, and you could notice that whenever you looked into her eyes. Reagan looked like that now, but that was because of all of the traveling they had done in a week. Annabeth glanced around, noticing the family pictures on the wall. It was always just Reagan and her mom, the tiny version of Reagan with missing teeth giggling in a picture as she stood next to a younger looking Rose, also beaming proudly. Reagan and Annabeth were sat down on the couch in the living room while her mom disappeared into the kitchen to get drinks and some snacks, and Annabeth felt guilty about not bringing Grover along now. The two sat together on the couch, and after a few seconds of silence Annabeth spoke up. 

"Your mom is really nice."

"She is," Reagan agreed flatly, because to her, her mother was the best in the world. "She deserves better than this."

     Her mother materialized in the doorway leading out of the kitchen, carrying a tray in each hand delicately. One tray was filled with chocolate chip cookies, the other tray had three glasses filled with orange soda. Once Rose sat down, she began talking about Reagan with Annabeth, talking about anything embarrassing that made the blonde laugh. After five minutes of talking and laughing, the blonde asked if she could use the restroom, leaving the mother and daughter alone in the living room. 

     As reagan sat there, a thoughtful expression formed on her face. Her step-dad must be at work, because he wouldn't be happy seeing her out of nowhere like this. Remembering Grover, she piled four cookies in her hands to give to him since he wasn't there, and because she considered him her friend, grabbed a handful of napkins for him to snack on too.

"I...I met my father."

Her mother stiffened, a frown gracing her features. "And?"

"He's...not what I expected," she confessed truthfully. "Nor who I like."

"Your father can be a caring man. He-"

Reagan shook her head irritably. "He left us. Left you here!" she argued back angrily, waving her hands around the room. "Ares just wanted to....wanted to...." A dark blush spread across her face and she looked away, unable to continue what she wanted to say. 

"Reagan!" There was also a dark blush on Rose's face, an embarrassed look etched into her features. Then she sighed in exasperation and reached over, clasping her daughter's hands in her own fiercely. "Your father does love you," she insisted softly. "He just-" The door opened and closed, effectively silencing them both. 

"Rosie, what's-" A tall man walked into the living room, wearing a black suit and carrying a brown leather suitcase. The sight of his step-daughter appearing from nowhere made him stop in his tracks, and slowly a sneer pulled at the corner of his lips. "What's she doing here?" he asked as he looked at his wife. 

Rose stood up, wringing her hands out in front of her. "Oh! Reagan is back for a visit, honey."

     He didn't seem happy about that. His lips thinned with distaste as he nodded and turned, walking down the hallway into their bedroom and slamming the door shut. Reagan had stood up, hands jamming into her pockets. Then her fingers brushed over the ring, and her eyes widened in awe as she pulled it out and held it up. 

"I can use this." Her mom gave her a quizzical look, so she continued. "After Ares claimed me, he did something with my ring. It's really cool! See, I just do this and-"

     Reagan was playing with the silver ring, running her fingers along the edge and dropped it. In seconds, the jewelry shifted and elongated into a staff that Reagan grabbed happily, the sharpened tip glowing softly with fire. 

Her mother's eyes widened. "Reagan you shouldn't-"

     Then the step-father appeared again, standing in the doorway in utter shock at the sight of the weapon. His eyes flickered from Reagan, to the flame embroidered weapon, to his wife, then back to Reagan again before realization dawned in his eyes and they narrowed angrily. 

"I see where this is going," he said acidly, storming over and reaching over to grab the weapon defensively. The flame grew with anger. "Think you can go off to some mystic camp crap, and suddenly come back here and you're all that?"

"Let go," Reagan said, voice leveled and unnaturally calm. 

     This all happened in a span of five minutes, another minute passing by when Annabeth appeared in the doorway on her return from the bathroom. Her eyes widened and she rushed over, grabbing Reagan by her arm and tugging on it. Rose crossed over, pulling on her husband indignantly to get him away from her daughter. Eventually he relented, his arm dropping to his side as he stepped back, but did not take his eyes away from the girl and her weapon. Reagan was scowling, and eventually the weapon shrunk down back into a ring that disappeared back in her pocket. 

"Reagan we really need to leave," Annabeth said, and slowly the dark haired girl blinked and stepped away. "Thank you for having us, Rose."

Her mother forced a tight smile. "No problem, sweetie. Don't forget the cookies for your friend."

     Reagan didn't budge for a second, but after a while she finally moved over and grabbed the small pile of cookies and napkins for Grover. She turned on her heels curtly to follow after Annabeth, and stopped to look back at her mom. 

"I'll be back for you one day, mom." She smiled calmly, only looking away when Annabeth pulled her out of the apartment. 

     Of course Reagan would come back home. Sooner this time, though. Stronger. More powerful. Reagan wanted to take care of her mom one day, and be able to support her like she was always supported and taken care of. She walked with Annabeth in silence, just staring ahead numbly. 

"Was that your step-dad?" Annabeth asked slowly, carefully as to not trigger some violent episode of Reagan rampaging back up the stairs to attack him. 

"Yeah."

     That's all she said, and for once Annabeth seemed to understand why she was so mature despite being only a year above her. They climbed back into the taxi. 

"What happened?" Grover asked worriedly. 

     Reagan silently handed him the cookies and napkins, which he excitedly began to nibble on, both chocolate chip cookies and napkins combined on the whole ride back home, back to Camp Half-Blood.


	16. A Deal.

Reagan was welcomed into the Ares cabin happily, with her new siblings cheering and clapping her on the back, even asking to see the weapon that their father granted her. Reagan realized that she fit in better than she had originally thought she would, but that didn't mean she didn't miss her cozy corner in the Hermes cabin. Rose was elated that Reagan had returned safely, and as they sat together at a lunch table one hot afternoon, she brought up her mother since she was still on her mind. 

"You know, my mom likes to be called Rose too."

     Rose had a small paint brush, the tip minuscule enough so that she could paint designs onto her thumbnails. Or try to, at least. Her hand wasn't steady enough, and the flower petals looked a bit jagged instead of smooth. But she didn't care. When Reagan spoke, the small Aphrodite girl looked up and smiled brightly. 

"Really?" she asked eagerly, because Reagan didn't usually bring up her family or her godly parent, while Rose enjoyed talking about her mother immensely. 

"Uh-huh. Except her full name is Roslynne," Reagan explained. "Some people call her Rose and some just call her Ross." 

"Do you miss her?"

Reagan shrugged, even though the answer was somewhat obvious. "Yeah."

A comfortable silence fell over them, but then Rose spoke up again. "Some kids from the Hermes cabin told me your birthday had passed by."

     They had all arrived back at camp on June twenty first, the day of the summer solstice, with Percy arriving only an hour after them. Weeks had went by then, and slowly life went back to normal. Reagan got comfortable in her new cabin with her actual siblings, Percy went back to being alone in his cabin, and Annabeth returned to her own cabin and siblings, and Reagan's and Annabeth's friendship ceased to exist. Maybe it was because she was Ares' daughter, and it was obvious that not many campers really liked the majority of the Ares kids. It was the middle of July by now, and soon the summer session at Camp Half-Blood would end. 

"Yeah. My birthdays on July thirteenth," Reagan answered. 

"You should have told me!" Rose exclaimed as she shoved Reagan's shoulder teasingly. 

Reagan couldn't help but to laugh at that, rubbing her shoulder like Rose had actually hurt her. "It just doesn't seem that important to me."

Rose pouted childishly as she leaned against Reagan playfully, swiping the paint brush tip against the older girls cheek and leaving a pink smear on the tanned skin. "Tell me next time, okay? We can have a party and celebrate!"

Reagan smiled briefly. "Okay," she agreed.

"I missed your birthday?"

They looked up, and standing a few yards behind them was Annabeth with her arms crossed over her chest absently, all of her weight resting on one hip. She smiled fondly at the two, but her grey eyes rested on Reagan alone. "You should have told me, too." 

The blonde girl walked over, sitting across from them at the table and smiling with amusement at the sight of the pink mark on Reagan's cheek. "I was just talking to Luke. He told me to come find you because he wanted to talk to you."

Reagan frowned when she mentioned spending time with Luke, but nodded and stood up, carefully stepping over the wooden bench part. "Where is he?"

"Oh, he was on his way to the training arena." Annabeth answered, her index finger tapping against the chipped wood absently. 

"Thanks."

     Reagan didn't wait for a response, nor did she invite Annabeth to walk with her. She was upset at how much Annabeth liked Luke, and definitely couldn't hope to compare to him even though she wanted to be like him so much. Maybe she was just upset that she and Annabeth just stopped talking all of the sudden.

     Luke was indeed waiting for her in the arena, and with a new sword. It was beautiful. One side was celestial bronze, and the other side looked like normal steel. The weapon arced through the air, the steel edge of the sword imbedding itself into a straw dummies shoulder.

"I think you'll need sturdier practice dummies next time." Reagan wanted to come off witty and funny, but instead her voice came out meek and she seemed shy in his presence. 

     Luke paused, pulling the sword free of the dummies shoulder and turning to face her. He seemed somewhat tired, like nightmares or some other bad omen haunted his dreams at night. But he still smiled, and all Reagan saw was this tall and handsome and talented guy standing in front of her that wanted to talk to her. No, she didn't like him that way. But he was practically her idol. 

"You like it?" Luke asked, flourishing the blade in the air with a grin. "I named it Backbiter." The steel glinted in the sunlight, momentarily blinding Reagan, but she couldn't bring herself to look away from the marvelous weapon. 

"Why is part of it steel? That doesn't hurt the monsters."

Luke grinned still. "Having some protection against all dangers doesn't hurt once and a while." Reagan only nodded her head in agreement, even though not all of her agreed to his statement. "Ares granted you a weapon too when he claimed you?"

     Her eyes lit up and she nodded, fishing out the ring from her pocket. From just her touch, the ring extended and the long spear was in her hand instead. Luke's eyes widened in what Reagan hoped to be awe, and she handed the weapon to him when he held his hand out expectantly. But as soon as he had it and she was no longer touching it, the spear shrunk back down into a ring. This didn't deter Luke, as he whistled appreciatively and tossed the ring back to Reagan, who stuffed it back into her pocket. 

"That's a pretty sweet weapon you got there, Reagan."

She was blushing because of his praise. "Thanks. Why did you want to see me, anyways?"

Luke snapped his fingers as be remembered what he wanted to say. "I've got a proposition for you."

"A....proposition?" Reagan asked slowly so that she could pronounce the word correctly. 

He laughed, his head tilting back slightly. The scar on his face wavered, moving with the muscles and flesh on his face. "Yeah."


	17. Gone.

   Annabeth was tending to Percy's wounds once again, just like when he first stumbled into camp that one night so many months ago. It felt longer though, like a year ago. Percy was no longer the naïve camper who lost his mom. He was no longer an unclaimed Demigod that didn't know anything. She smiled to herself, using a small rag to dab the drool off his face. Percy's eyes fluttered and slowly opened, and he groaned out hoarsely. "L-Luke-"

Annabeth's eyes widened and she sat up so suddenly that the stool she was sitting on tipped over. "Chiron!"

     Percy was standing outside on the porch of the Big House with Chiron in his wheelchair and Annabeth standing there with her shoulder braced against a wooden pole, staring out at the strawberry fields where Satyr's were prancing about freely. Percy was explaining what had happened with Luke. The strange encounter in the forest was explained, with Luke admitting to stealing the Master Lightning Bolt and Helm of Darkness and working with Kronos. Annabeth had a hard time believing that Luke would do this, almost refused to believe what Percy was saying, but the evidence against Luke was irrefutable. A small figure could be seen in the distance, running towards the Big House as quickly as her short legs could carry her, and Annabeth quickly remembered this was the small girl that always hung around Reagan. She couldn't seem to remember her name at the moment. As she neared the front porch, huffing breathlessly and wiping away stray tears from her face, Chiron immediately dropped the conversation pertaining to Luke working with Kronos. 

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, turning his wheelchair to face the girl as she slowly climbed up the stairs onto the porch.

"She's gone!" she choked out, sobs racking her small body because Reagan, in such short time, meant a lot to the nine year old girl. 

Annabeth frowned. "Who?"

Rose turned her watery eyes to the blonde. "Reagan!"

     Rosalinda was asked to explain everything, from this morning until now in the afternoon. She had regained most of her composure, but was now suffering from a severe case of hiccups that interrupted her speech every once and a while, until Percy offered her his glass of water and the hiccups were cured. 

"I was supposed to meet Reagan in the training arena," Rosalinda said, fingers absently playing with the tips of her hair nervously. "She didn't show up for a while, so I went to her cabin to see if she had possibly forgotten or got busy, but Clarisse said she wasn't there!" She paused, frowning down at her feet and looked back up, her bottom lip trembling. Annabeth was sure she would start bawling again. "I...I don't think Reagan was even at breakfast this morning. I didn't even think it was strange, just thought that she had ditched or somethin'," she mumbled meekly.

     Reagan and Rosalinda had always met up at the arena after lunch, because Reagan liked to train and Rosalinda enjoyed watching her, and sometimes the daughter of Ares gave her tips and pointers. Annabeth never noticed Reagan's absence, and immediately began to mentally reprimand herself for not noticing earlier. Her whole body tensed up, because not only did she lose Luke, but she also lost Reagan. 

 

     Annabeth was helping Percy load his belongings into the taxi, but her mind was somewhere else. Percy grunted as he hefted the last bag into the trunk and closed it. Annabeth blinked when it slammed shut, grey eyes raising to look over at her friend. 

"We'll stop Luke," Percy said confidently. When she nodded, he continued, but in a gentler tone of voice. "Do you think Reagan is-"

"No. I don't think Reagan is dead," Annabeth cut him off, not wanting to hear his thoughts on the matter. 

"We cannot use resources searching for Reagan, not now with Luke. We must assume she's dead," Chiron said, placing a gentle hand on the blonde's shoulder and squeezing it reassuringly and sympathetically 

"She's not dead," Annabeth repeated aloud, slowly shaking her head as Chiron's words rang out in her head. "Percy, maybe she went to her mom again. If you can, could you...."

Percy nodded in understanding. "Yeah. I'll check."

Annabeth nodded nervously, wringing her hands in front of her. "Thanks, Percy."

He offered a smile. "Staying at camp?"

She shook her head. "No. I've decided to try living with my dad again." She pursed her lips anxiously.

"That's great, Annabeth! I hope it works out."

"Thanks. And I hope you don't burn down your new school, Seaweed Brain," she teased. 

     Percy smiled bemusedly and climbed into the taxi, waving to Annabeth as the car drove away back in the direction of Manhattan. She waved back weakly, waiting until she couldn't see the yellow taxi anymore before turning and climbing back up the hill to go to her cabin to finish packing. On the way, she passed the Ares cabin and made a quick, last minute decision to walk inside. It was empty for the most part, aside from a few Ares kids straggling behind. They gave Annabeth a dirty look before they too left, leaving the blonde alone. It was easy to find Reagan's bed, because pinned to the wall was a picture of Reagan and her mother. The dark haired, young Reagan was laying in a hospital bed, arm up in a sling. Despite the broken arm, Annabeth smiled weakly and walked over. Her eyes scanned the scant bed, noticing the bedsheets weren't disheveled like someone didn't sleep in it. Or someone made the bed very neatly. But that was doubtful, considering all the other bedsheets were messed up and everywhere, pillows strewn across the floor. But now it was clear. 

Annabeth smiled again, but the smile was dry and all the saliva in her mouth was gone with the realization of a line from Percy's prophecy. "You shall be abandoned by one who you grow close to," she recited, and finally the words made sense. 

Reagan really was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> This is super old, and I had my dreams of Annabeth being a biseuxal character deep in my withered gay heart, so I wanted to make that dream into a reality for myself. Hope you enjoy. :)


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